The tea industry in India : a review of finance and labour, and ...

OJotnell Uttineraitg Slibcatg

Jltliara, ^txa fork

CHARLES WILLIAM WASONCOLLECTION

CHINA AND THE CHINESE

THE GIFT OFCHARLES WILLIAM WASON

CLASS OF 1876

1918

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023610128

THE

TEA INDTJSTET IN INDIA

A EEVIEW OP FINANCE AND LABOUE,

AND A

GUIDE FOE CAPITALISTS AND ASSISTANTS.

SAMUEL BAILDON,AUTHOE OP " TEA IN ASSAM," ETC.

LONDON:W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATEELOO PLACE. S.W.

PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE.

1882.

(All Bights BMerved.)

SB IT

LONDON

PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO,, 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE I.

PAGE

Introduction . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTEE II.

India the Home of the Tea-plant . . . . 6

CHAPTEE III.

The Supekioeity of Indian over China Teas . . .20

CHAPTEE IV.

India and Tea-plantebs . . . . .85

CHAPTEE V.

The Planter on Leave . . . . . 89

CHAPTEE VI.

The Finaxcial Aspect of Production and Disposal . . 103

JyCONTENTS.

CHAPTEE VII.

. 145The Labour Question .

• •'

CHAPTEE VIII.

. 22aThe Social Phase of Tba-deinking .

239APPENDIX .•••

. 24TGLOSSAEY..••

THE

TEA INDUSTEY IN INDIA.

CHAPTEE I.

INTBODUCTION.

The raison d'etre of any book ought to be that there is

room for it, and also that it is needed. It is in such a

belief that I have again ventured to seek the patronage

of those interested in the Indian tea industry ; and I

may say that the belief rested, in the first place, on

the representation of a firm of London tea-brokers, that

such a book as I have now written would be of use at

the present time. Thinking over the remarks made in

this regard, I found that a wide field was open to me

—

one that, so far as I was aware, had not been opened

up, and which, from the Indian side, it seemed to me,

could not very well be opened.

I thought, also, that if I could combine with (what I

hope is) an impartial view of the Indian tea industry,

information useful for the guidance of capitalists and

young men wishing to become tea-planters, I should be

supplying a want which I well knew existed. By the

1

2 THE TEA INDUSTEY IN INDIA.

kindness of Messrs. W. and R. Chambers, I am allowed

to state, that various inquiries from different parts of

the United Kingdom have been addressed to them on the

subject of appointments, cUmate, openings for capital,

&c., after the appearance in their Journal of short

sketches of life in the Indian tea districts : which

inquiries have been handed to me for reply. I have

therefore striven to meet this want.

In reviewing my previous little work

—

Tea in Assam—the Editor of the Calcutta daily Statesman was kind enough

to characterize it as " interesting." In my present

endeavour I have remembered this, and have tried

again to deserve such commendation. Class works are

necessarily somewhat heavy in tlieir reading : and

knowing this, I have sought to make the subject as

entertaining as was possible. This will explain the

insertion of the chapters, " The Planter on Leave," and

" The Social Phase of Tea-drinking." There is a great

deal that is not cheerful in a tea-planter's life ; and I

have consequently thought that a proven picture of the

goal to which, I suppose, all men look

—

i.e. leave of

absence— would perhaps act as a mental tonic to those

that required one, and reconcile existing unpleasant-

nesses by a cheerful hope for the future.

Since returning to England, some three years ago, I

have continued my connexion with Indian tea. I think

I may say, that in this time, and by the aid of know-

ledge acquired in the Indian districts, I have been

enabled to see some points, essential to the successful

continuance of the industry, in a clearer light than could

INTBODUCTION, 3

be obtained by men wholly resident in India, either

through the medium of the press, or private corre-

spondence. Planters naturally side with planters, agents

with agents, and owners with owners, when anything is

wrong ; each section beheves in its own infallibility, and

in the error of the others ; and until they pass quite

out from either of the cliques mentioned, they must

continue to look upon most questions in a false light.

1 have found that many matters between the growers

of tea and its consignees here, need to be reconciled.

Also, that from want of a clearer knowledge of factory

management and agriculture, planters have been often

unjustly treated by Calcutta agents and London boards.

Equally, I have been compelled to believe, that for lack

of information, or consideration for the frequently

secondary position held by agents in India, planters did

not think quite as charitably as they might of their

employers, who were supposed sometimes to dik the lives

of managers, until existence—more particularly under

the well-known ethereal conditions of life in the Mo-

fussil—was not worth having. It is scarcely necessary

to say, that—especially in the present almost critical

state of the Indian tea industry—nothing could be more

detrimental to the common interest, than diverse, irre-

concilable opinions, which must inevitably result in

heartburnings, bickerings, and discord. It is surely a

need of the greatest magnitude, that there should be

perfect union and accord between the entire staff of each

interest ; because, if the owners and the agents, or the

agents and the planters, persist in pulling in different

4 THE TEA INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

directions, the interest must, as a natural sequence,

suffer, or, more probably, fail altogether. I have endea-

voured to show the individual interests at stake, and the

expectations of each section of the management. In

seeking to explain, and thereby remove, some of the

obstacles to a more harmonious working, I have never

lost sight of the fact that, however willing he might be,

it was absolutely impossible for any one writer to make

suggestions for the better management of an industry of

the enormous extent of that of tea, and for him to be

right upon every point. No one man could so thoroughly

and completely grasp the situation ; and I am far from

wishing to set myself up as a re-organiser of what has

been previously well organised by men far more capable

than myself. Where a need of alteration has arisen, so

far as I can see, it is through a change having occurred

in the original order of things, when the organisation

was equal to the occasion ; but as in some cases, that

need does not seem to have been altogether recognised,

I have taken it upon myself, to the best of my ability, to

point it out.

The labour question being one of, if not the most

important considerations in some districts'—and these

the largest—I have tried to review the matter in

its entirety, showing the errors which exist, and a

means of remedying them. While I do not expect

an unqualified acceptance of my suggestions, I cer-

tainly hope that some definite action may result from

them.

In endeavouring to prove that in India, and not

INTEODUCTION. 6

China, the tea-plant has its home, I know I have written

matter which, in itself, cannot result in any tangible

good to the Indian tea industry. But the present age

is essentially one of discovery in research ; and if India

can be proved—as I hope I have proved it—to be the

home of the tea-plant, Indian planters will have a strong

base-point on which to reasonably establish their asser-

tion as to the superiority of their produce. And I think

I shall not be insinuating weakness, if I say that the

industry on which I write needs all that can be said in

its favour. It is as yet only a child, striving against the

Chinese giant ; but, fortunately, the natural order of

things is for the giants to die before the vigorous

children.

There will be found in the following pages, I think I

may say necessarily, a good deal of a personal pronoun

of the first person singular. Its use has been avoided

wherever possible, but there is plenty of it remaining,

nevertheless. I mention this, lest any reader should

think I am not aware of the fact.

In the course of my work I have felt that the extent

of the subject written upon was considerable ; but no

point has been advanced without careful consideration.

I therefore hope that my work will result in the esta-

blishment of a better understanding between parties

concerned in the tea industry, where it can be established,

and that the suggestions made will, in some instances

at all events, prove serviceable.

THE TEA INDDSTEY IN INDIA.

CHAPTER II.

INDIA THE HOME OF THE TEA-PLANT.

Doubts have been expressed in the last few years as to

the accuracy of the general belief that the tea-plant had

its home in China.

It must be admitted to be rather late in the day now

to advance theories as to the nativity of a plant whose

cultivation has been carried on for centuries ; at the

same time there will be nothing lost by looking into

such records as exist, to see what information can be

obtained on the subject.

Theorists are always eminently convincing to them-

selves ; so in the present case, I know one individual

who feels quite sure—no matter how general or ancient

be the belief to the contrary—that India is the natural

home of the tea-plant.

Ball, in his exhaustive and valuable work, Tlie Cultiva-

tion and Manufacture of Tea, says (p. 15), " It may be

here proper to remark that on the authorities of certain

Japanese authors, a doubt has been raised by the Dr.

Yon Siebold, an intelligent botanist some years resident

INDIA THE HOME OF THE TEA-PLANT. 7

in Japan, as to the tea- plant being indigenous in China.

All are agreed that it is of exotic growth in Japan, and

was introduced into that country from China in the

sixth century, agreeably to Kaempfer, or the ninth

century (which seems more probable), according to Von

Siebold."

The early history of the tea-plant is surrounded by

the cloudy legends and mythological narratives of the

imaginative Chinese. One writer says, " The origin of

the use of tea, as collected from the works of the

Chinese, is traced to the fabulous period of their history.

. . . The earliest authentic account of tea, if anything

so obscure and vague can be considered authentic, is

contained in the She King, one of the classical works of

high antiquity and veneration amongst the Chinese, and

compiled by their renowned philosopher and moralist,

Confucius. ... In this treatise (Emn Fang Pu), in the

article " The Ancient History of Tea," an absurd story

is related of the discovery of this tree in the Tsin

dynasty. In the reign of Yuen Ty, in the dynasty of

Tsin, an old woman was accustomed to proceed every

morning at day-break to the market-place, carrying a

small cup of tea in the palm of her hand. The people

bought it eagerly ; and yet from the break of day to the

close of evening, the cup was never exhausted. The

money received, she distributed to the orphan and the

needy beggar frequenting the highways. The people

seized and confined her in prison. At night she flew

through the prison window vfith her little vase in her

hand."

ft The tea iNDtJSTKT IN INDIA.

Another (legendary) version of the origin of the tea-

plant, is, that in or ahout the year of grace 510, an

Indian prince and religious devotee named Dharma,

third son of King Kosjusva, imposed upon himself, in

his wanderings, the rather inconvenient penance of doing

without sleep. The little Chinese narrative says that

the Indian gentleman (who must have differed vastly

from his countrymen of the present day), got on very

comfortably for some years ; until all at once he gave

up, and had forty winks on a mountain-side. Upon

awakening, Dharma was so grieved to find that he could

not move about for years without going to sleep, that

he pulled out his eye-lashes and flung them on the

ground. Coming round that way later on, he found the

offending lashes had grown into bushes, such as he had

never before seen ; and his long ignorance of sleep not

having taken all the curiosity out of him, he nibbled the

leaves, and found them possessed of an eye-opening

tendency. He related the discovery to his friends and

neighbours, and the tea-plant was forthwith taken in hand.

This, the most generally accepted indication of the

first notice of tea in China—vague and legendary,

I admit, but nothing more accurate is obtainable

—

uses the name of Dharma as the promoter or creator

of the tea-plant. The actual records speak positively

of such a man, saying he was a native of India, pro-

bably a Fakir, and that he crossed to Japan. Kaempfer

states upon the authority of the Japanese chronicles,

that tea was introduced into that country by a prince

of the name of Dharma.

INDTA THE HOME OF THE TEA-PLANT.

It will be advancing no theory to say that many

mythological legends are based upon actual occurrences.

In this year of enlightenment, 1881, we do not, of

course, believe that a man named Dharma— especially

an Indian—lived for years without sleeping, any more

than we do that the tea-plant came out of his head;

but it is possible, and even very probable, that the plant

was brought to the notice of the Chinese by Dharma,

just as it was to that of the Japanese by the same

person. And when the ancient history of China is

studied, one is quite prepared to find that a matter of

past discovery or introduction has been enshrouded in a

fanciful record verging upon, if not actually clothed in,

the allegorical, while at the same time indicating the

actual. Yet, do what we will, we are, of course,

guided by conjecture ; by reason of which, at this late

date, it is difficult either to prove or deny the existence

of the tea-plant in China anterior to, or through the

agency of Dharma.

Briefly, the matter stands thus. The most feasible of

the Chinese legends on the subject, makes the existence

of the tea-plant in China to have originated with

Dharma, who came from India in a.d. 510. The

Chinese chronicles tell of such a visitor during the reign

of Vu Ty, A.D. 543, stating that he came from India and

crossed to Japan. The Japanese chronicles record the

visit, and say Dharma introduced the tea-plant to that

country. The Chinese and Japanese versions of the

first phases of tea in their respective countries are thus

attributed to a native of India. If we enter into the

10 THE TEA INDUSTET IN INDIA.

conjectural domain of " perhaps," there will scarcely be

a limit to surpassing whatever we may advance. I will

therefore venture only one " perhaps," and I feel quite

sorry to do even that, having no doubt that Dharma

was a very respectable individual, when doing the tea-

plant business in China, at the time that England was

divided into several kingdoms.

My one "perhaps" is this; and I think all who

understand the Indian character at the present time

"will admit that it is not a far-fetched one. Perhaps

Dharma, finding he was introducing to the Chinese an

unknown plant, possessing pecuUar properties, accounted

for its existence in true Oriental fashion in a way not

lowering to his own importance in the eyes of a

superstitious people.

Mr. Ball says (p. 17), " Recent discoveries in Assam

also seem to justify the assumption, if nothing to the

contrary be known, that it (tea) has spontaneously

extended its growth along a continuous and almost

uninterrupted mountainous range, but of moderate

altitude, nearly from the great river the Yang-ese-

Kiang, to the countries flanking the south-western

frontier of China, where this range falls in with, or,

agreeably with the opinion of a well-mformed and

scientific author. Dr. Eoyle, forms a continuation of

the Himalayan range. But in those countries, as in

every part of China, if found in the plains or in the

vicinity of habitations and cultivated grounds, it maybe fairly assumed that it was brought and propagated

there by the agency and industry of man."

INDIA THE HOME OF THE TEA-PLANT. ll

There is neither a record, nor anything approaching

a reasonable legend, to prove that tea was discovered in

a wild state in China before Dharma brought it to

notice. The earliest mention tells of people using it,

and it may be inferred therefrom that they cultivated it.

Precise and accurate information is obtainable as to the

actual discovery of tea in Assam, away from habitations,

and in dense jungles, far from " cultivated grounds."

But similar information is not obtainable in connexion

with the first days of tea amongst the Chinese. Wemay reasonably suppose that the place in which nature

plants anything is better suited to its growth than a

chance one of man's selection, and also that nature does

not plant a shrub in a place of medium suitability, and

leave it " spontaneously to extend its growth" into a

more fitting spot many hundreds of miles distant. And as

to the suitabihty of India for tea, there can be no ques-

tion ; for even what is known as the Chinese plant gives

a better return in India than in its reputed native land.

We may either dispense with the agency of Dharma

altogether, as having introduced the plant to China from

India, or just reverse Mr. Ball's theory, and suppose

that instead of the plant being indigenous to China and

extending its growth along the countries mentioned into

India, that it was indigenous to India, and extended its

growth to China, deteriorating as it did so.

Taking India as the real home of tea, there was, of

course, primarily, but one kind of plant. But I amreminded, in thus vpriting, of the botanical classification

of the Thea viridis, and the Thea bohea. I was recently

12 THE TEA INDXJSTBY IN INDIA.

informed by a well-known professional botanist, that it is

still almost an open question as to what is the difference

between the two plants ; and that there is no doubt as

to their having originally been one and the same. In

India, making either green or black tea depends upon

the will of the planter.

But all writers on Indian tea have been obliged to

give three classes of the plant—the indigenous, the China,

and the hybrid ; though according to the theory I have

mentioned, the China plant is but a deteriorated specimen

of the pure (Indian) plant. But centuries of varied

cultivation in a climate not its own, and no small

amount of neglect, have made this wandering offshoot a

distinct variety, although ranking botanically partly

under the same name as its parent, Thea bohea ; so

distinct, indeed, as to have assisted in the production of

an entirely new plant—the Hybrid.

We will put this degenerated Indian tea-plant of

China, in its origin, in the position of a traveller ; and,

remembering that plant-life is more easily influenced by

climate than human life, suppose that an European was

cast upon the world, and travelling gradually farther and

farther from his native land, eventually settled downin a cHmate altogether unsuitable for his successful

development. After the lapse of a great number of years,

he would nominally remain an European, but virtually

be an established member of another community, and

affected by habits of life, cUmatic influences, and in-

timate associations with things and people around him.

His nationahty would have been abandoned for the

INDIA THE HOME OF THE TEA- PLANT. 13

adoption of that of an inferior country, and have

resulted in his decline. In the course of time we see

him—or his progeny— stunted, changed, coarse, in every

way degenerated ; in fact, changed physically from his

original state.

So with China tea : originally part of the one Indian

family, now a distinct and separate member.

In the early days of the tea enterprise in India, in-

digenous plants were collected and formed into gardens,

and China plants, propagated from seed, were planted

in close proximity to the Indian species. The Chinese

plants, having entirely changed from what they were in

their origin, in the botanical course of nature imparted

their altered condition, in some degree, to other plants

around them ; and the very obvious result of planting

two kinds of tea came about in the production of a third

—the hybrid. From the small proportion of China

plant originally placed in the experimental gardens, we

see the wonderful blending of nature, in the fact that

very little purely indigenous, or purely China, tea,

remains— the various tea-producing districts in India

almost all growing hybrid bushes. There are sections

of a few— I was almost saying two or three—estates in

Assam, where indigenous plant is cultivated exclusively;

and the greatest care is taken to keep all China and

hybrid plants out of the way, so as to ensure the

continued purity of species.

But Indian tea is now almost entirely of the hybrid

class, of various degrees. What little remains of the

originally propagated China tea, is a scrubby bush,


with numerous small branches growing directly from the

earth, and bearing hard, stunted leaves. Take this, as

a wandering member of its family and the outcome of

neglected cultivation ih an inferior climate, and the

imagination can easily picture what a specimen well-

nourished in its natural soil is like. Tall, vigorous, of

increased stature, with larger leaves, and full of sap ;

giving a greater return, and of a richer kind.

The introduction of China tea (in seed) into India,

has frequently been deplored, as the plant is not a

particularly remunerative one to cultivate. But few

evils are devoid of some indirect good ; and although

the China specimen is a disagreeable thing to grow, and

its out-turn more generally unsatisfactory than otherwise,

the hardy nature it has blended with the pure Indian

plant is a very wholesome addition.

China tea is a wandering member of a respectable

family. It originally belonged to a delicately nurtured

household, which received from nature all it needed,

was looked after by the same generous parent, and con-

sequently throve. But it went away from its native

spot, and at last settled down in China Its new home

was not so good ; and its requirements, not being so well

supplied, had to be curtailed, to its own physical detri-

ment. In short, China tea has "roughed it "; and in

returning to its native place—India—force of habit

and years of privation have rendered the old needs

necessaries no longer. It has become accustomed to a

seemingly insufficient rainfall ; bHght attacks but does

not kill it ; coolies oocasionally hack its laterals with the


hoe, and women sometimes reduce its recently increased

stature with no very gentle hand ; novices also treat it

imkindly with the pruning-knife, and the Borer gets at

him. But he can bear all these things, after enduring

what the pigtails in China called " tea cultivation."

Having escaped, and returned to his native land, he

imparts some of his hardened endurance to the family,

puts a little of his sluggish blood and toughened body

into theirs, and so renders them less finely strung, less

delicate, and better able to bear the freaks of society

without injury.

It is more satisfactory to cultivate good hybrid than

either indigenous or China plants. The blended natures

have resulted in a vigorous and hardy specimen, more

suited to the climates in which it has been planted, than

is the pure Indian variety, yet retaining a sufficiency of

its original character to make its culture remunerative.

A good tea climate must be humid. The atmosphere in

the forest home of the Assam tea-plant is sometimes so

moist as almost to give the idea of solidity. Hidden

in the jungles where the rain fell in torrents, and where

the dense undergrowth prevented the sun from drying

up the ground, the tea-plant originally lived in an atmo-

sphere which was always damp. But it was discovered

in its wild luxuriance, protected by almost impenetrable

jungle ; and British energy and enterprise brought it out

of seclusion. It was taken away and planted in open

spaces, deprived of the shelter of its giant neighbours,

and exposed to the direct action of the sun ; and having

a supply of moisture only when it rained, it forgot how


to vegetate as it previously had. So it was found that

•what had been healthy and vigorous as jungle, was apt

to be delicate and fragile as a cultivated plant. It is

because of this, that the propagation of the aUen (China)

plant, has not been without its good. The sturdy,

sluggish nature of the Indo- Celestial species, has

blended harmoniously and advantageously with the pure

Indian variety ; and what was absolutely necessary for the

successful extension of the Indian tea industry— a plant

more prolific than the China, yet less dehcate than the

indigenous—nature has bountifully given in the hybrid.

Confining, for the moment, my remarks to the pro-

vince of Assam, the immense extent which the tea

industry has assumed has changed, or, perhaps I should

say, modified, the climate of the district. Not a great

many years ago, there was a large tract of country

several hundred miles in length, lying between two

ranges of hills in the Bengal Presidency, through which

a mighty river ran, which was supposed to have its

source right away north of the Himalaya mountains;

but beyond this, very little was known. The place was

Assam- governed by a Rajah and his ministers, and to

which neither railway nor steamers went. It gradually

came into notice after its annexation from the Burmese

in 1826 ; but the era of its opening out and becoming

generally known commenced in 1838 with the tea

enterprise. It was the Inferno of Bengal ; a place to

which but few people went, and from which even fewer

returned ; humid and deadly, with jungle, fevers, ague,

and tigers, holding supreme sway. What is Assam now ?


I might almost say a smiling province. The erstwhile

unopened stretch of country between two ranges of hills

and intersected by a river, is now a fairly cultivated

district, sending its produce all over the world;giving

employment to hundreds of Europeans and thousands of

natives ; communicated with (in part) by the railway of

the Eastern Bengal Company, and the steamers of two

companies ; boasting of its importance in the possession

of a Chief Commissioner, and an Administration sepa-

rate from that of the Bengal Presidency. Where once

jungle and its deadly miasma concealed the riches and

importance of the province, hundreds of thousands

of acres of open, land are now to be seen, planted

with tea ! Compared with past times, Assam is no

longer a howling wilderness ; and the change from

hundreds of miles of waste into cultivated land has

altered almost everything. Therefore, as I have said,

the climate has become greatly modified. It needs no

argument to support the fact that where you clear and

cultivate land the rainfall is lessened ; and the atmo-

spheric moisture is reduced when the sun gets to the

earth, and the soil is sweetened by ventilation and good

cultivation. To the tea-plant in its wild state, moisture

was most essential ; but extended cultivation has reduced

the humidity of Assam, and the indigenous plant is con-

sequently not so well off when cultivated as when in its

jungly seclusion.

Tea of the hybrid class is being cultivated remune-

ratively at the present time in places where, I am cer-

tain, the indigenous plant could not live. Tea of the same

2


order is also thriving and paying, after Kving through

neglect and harsh treatment which would have killed

indigenous tea in its infancy. Had the deteriorated

(China) plant not been brought back to India, and

allied itself with its old species, I am convinced that the

enterprise of Indian tea cultivation would have been con-

fined to a very considerably less extent than that at which

it is now carried on. Assam is acknowledged to be the

best tea climate in India;yet even here, in many places,

indigenous tea will not thrive. What, then, about other

districts vrith climates less favourable than Assam ?

Unless China tea had been introduced for exclusive

growth in such localities, there would have been no

plants suitable for them. It is hardly to be expected

that results obtained from China gardens in Kangra and

Kumaon would have been sufficient to increase the

industry to its present dimensions. The indigenous

Indian plant was found growing in rich soil, in valleys

sheltered by dense jungles and with a very moist atmo-

sphere ; and it would be unreasonable to expect it to

thrive, if even to live, on exposed hilly elevations and in

drier climates out of Assam. The natural inference, there-

fore, is, that districts now growing tea would not have

been opened out as tea-producing districts, but for the

happy proyision of nature in supplying a suitable plant.

Suffering indirectly from John Chinaman's ill-treatment,

it was well off when fairly cultivated in moderately good

soil, and receiving a medium rainfall. It did not lan-

guish or grow delicate when away from jungly seclu-

sion and constant moisture ; so it was planted in many


districts of India and in Ceylon, and is doing well every-

where.

Thea Bohea Assamica went away from home, and

allowed botanists (who had not found his parents), to

give him the name of Chviensis ; but he has gone back

now to the old country, and has agreed to remain, upon

the acceptance of the equitable proposition (resulting

from these radical times), that as he and his near rela-

tives are getting old it is useless to quarrel about the

family name ; so they have made a new one, of a

modern cast, for their progeny, which writers on the

subject designate in English instead of afflicting it with

its doubtful Latin title, and call the hybrid. There is

peace in the family at last, and the rising generation is

looked upon hopefully.

20 THE TEA INnUSTEY IN INDIA.

CHAPTER III.

THE SUPEBIOEITT OF INDIAN OVEE CHINA TEAS.

In Chapter II. " India the Home of the Tea-plant," I

have endeavoured to show that as a growing plant Indian

tea is superior to that of China. The most natural

sequence would therefore be that the manufactured

produce would be better—and so it is.

I have also elsewhere mentioned the purpose to which

Indian tea is put by the retailing grocer ; and I think

the simple fact that it is systematically used to fortify

tea from China, will decisively prove it to be generally

superior for practical purposes. My wish, in this

chapter, is to show by what causes, other than the

fact of the tea-plant being in its natural home in

India, this superiority is brought about and main-

tained.

The chemical constituents of good tea are the volatile

oil, tannic acid, and theine, with other such elements

as are commonly found in the leaves of vegetables. It

The superiority op Indian over ohina tbab. 21

owes its smell, and part of its e£fects, to its volatile oil.

The tannic acid blackens the salts of iron, as does the

tannic acid of the oak. The theine is the most remark-

able constituent. In using tea, those parts only are

used which are extracted by the water—the ethereal oil,

the tannate of theine, gum, and most of the soluble

salts. The theine is composed of eight atoms of

carbon, four atoms of nitrogen, ten atoms of hydro-

gen, and two atoms of oxygen ; and the nutritive power

is contained in the two azotised substances—theine and

caseine.

Such is good tea. In Chapter VIII. " The Social Phase

of Tea-drinking," will be found some of the beneficial

effects ; but to show its possible action upon the system,

I quote from the work of one of the most eminent

medical authorities. Dr. Thompson :—

" There is probably no substance, not strictlymedicinal,

which exerts so powerful an influence upon the nervous

system as tea, especially the green variety, of which many

individuals cannot even take the smallest quantity without

experiencing the most disagreeable effects ; they become

faint, the action of the nervous system is disturbed,

the hand trembles, the heart palpitates, sometimes

gastric spasm is induced, but more generally a feeling of

raking the stomach, and of extreme hunger after a full

meal ; lastly, there is extreme wakefulness. There are

some persons upon whom green tea produces the same

effect as digitalis, and it has been medicinally employed

in the diseases for which that herb has so deservedly

obtained a high reputation. Desbois, of Kochefort, has,

22 The tea Industry in India.

by the use of it, cured many nervous diseases which

have arisen from accelerated circulation. Dr. Percival

had an idea that green tea possessed nearly the same

power as digitalis of controUiag and abating the action

of the heart. It is upon the nervous system that the

effects of tea are chiefly manifested;green tea especially

is distiaguished by this property. It is said that a

strong solution of it applied to the sciatic nerve for half

an hour has caused death. Introduced in only a small

quantity below the abdominal integuments of a frog, it

produced complete paralysis of its hind legs, lasting for

some hours. Administered as an injection to a dog, it

caused a perfect paralysis of the bladder and intestinal

sphincters, a partial loss of power in the hind legs, and

a total loss in the tail. A poultice of green tea-leaves

applied on the human stomach has caused sickness and

vomiting ; over the abdomen, colicky pains and purgings;

over the heart, faintness and irregularity of pulsation;

over the kidneys, diaeresis. True, these are chiefly the

results of green tea, but, on some, black tea will produce

nearly the same symptoms. Where individuals have

any tendency to dyspeptic affections, they are very apt to

be aggravated by the use of tea, which occasions severe

gastralgia."

These are the occasional effects of presumably good

tea. What need be said of the possible results of the

adulterated kinds ?

I will now give an extract from a work on China tea

by Mr. Samuel Ball.

" There can be no doubt that the tea-shrub is very

THE SUPEEIORITY 01* INDIAK OVER CHINA TEAS* 23

extensively cultivated iii China ; and the probability is,

that every province, by means of its sheltered valleys, is

enabled to contribute largely to its own domestic con-

sumption. Still, the ground allotted to the growth of this

shruh beiiig commonly only such as is unproductive, hilly, or

otherwise unprofitable, as the banks of arable and cultivated

grounds ;* and as every part of the empire is not equally

favourable to its growth, it has often been questioned

how far the use of this refreshing beverage is within the

daily reach of the lowest order of the people. It is,

without doubt, extensively used by all classes of the

community, even the lowest, in some form or other,

throughout this vast country ; but it is equally certain that

innumerable other leaves are employed as substitutes by many

people among the poorer class, as frequent experience shows.*

I examined many samples of such tea brought down to

Canton by the gentlemen connected with Lord Amherst's

embassy. Long lists of plants, moreover, are found in

many of the Chinese herbals, to which the same term,

'tea,' is applied; though the Chinese very well dis-

tinguish the pure tea from its substitute, by observing

that the plants so used, ' though they bear the name of

tea, are not of the tea species.' In fact, they use the term

' tea ' in a general sense, as we do, to signify any infusion of

leaves."*

On the testimony of the House of Commons, •' millions

of pounds of sloe, liquorice, and ash leaves, are every

year mixed with Chinese teas for England." It is well

* The italics are added.

24 • THE TEA INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

known that the leaves of the Charrapal, a Californian

bush, are largely exported to China, whence they return

packed under the title of tea. *

So much for the spurious vegetable basis of adultera-

tion. Mr. Fortune, in his interesting work, shows up

the " facing " process, of making up once-used leaves

with the aid of Prussian blue, sihca, gypsum, plumbago,

lamp-black, ferruginous earth, and other abominations.

A Chinese journal says on the subject

:

" The wonder is that such stuff should be suffered to

be manufactured, much less to be shipped as a lawful

export, for Chinese law expressly prohibits the re-

manipulation of tea that has once been used, on the

obvious and common-sense principles that such a trade

is necessarily, in its very essence, fraudulent. Yet in

the face of this well-known maxim, it is one of the

thousand proofs which we have of the utter rottenness of

the present administration, that all around the settlement,

in every convenient open space, large quantities of what

is termed, with ominous propriety, "the mixture," lie

exposed to the sun at noon-day, in some cases within a

hundred yards of the Mixed Court zamen. And not

only so, but there are the establishments, well known to

the police, where the mixture is fired, leaded, packed,

sold, and despatched for shipment ; and experience has

shown that it is useless to expect conviction, under

Chinese law, from a Chinese magistrate."

The same journal, referring to a peculiar kind of

* Food Papers, by S. P. Day.

THE BUPEEIOEITT OP INDIAN OVER CHINA TEAS. 25

willow which grows abundautly in the country, the

leaves of which are utilised by tea manufacturers,

observes :

" One needs not the expensive craft of the cha-sze to

know how neatly a little skilful manipulation, and a

little heat applied secundum artem, can transform these

willow leaves into genuine and delicate tea-leaves.

Whether the mercantile result be intended to astonish

the palates of old ladies in London or Glasgow, or to

pass as genuine Souchong with skippers who have little

knowledge of tea, we know not ; but the fact remains,

that the trade thrives well, and pays."*

A startling exposure was made a few years since, of

the tea-rubbish styled " Finest New Season Kaisow "

and "Fine Oanfa Congou," sold in bond at IJd. to

Ifd. per lb. Upon analysis, the former was found to

contain an enormous amount of miueral matter, chiefly

iron filings ; while the latter proved a mixture of re-dried

tea-leaves, straw, fragments of matting, rice-husks,

willow leaves, and the excrement of silkworms. The

" Maloo Mixture," likewise, once gained an unenviable

notoriety, as did the " Extra Fine Moyune Gunpowder,"

put up for sale by auction in Mincing Lane, and in

which Dr. Letheby discovered 40 per cent, of iron filings

and 19 per cent, of silica. Some years since, the City

Commissioners made a commendable but abortive efi'ort

to seize " Lie Tea," and teas artifi.cia]ly coloured and

otherwise adulterated ; but inasmuch as duty had been

* Food Papers.


paid on the rubbish, it was found that nothing could be

done to arrest the distribution of such vile stuff.*

There will have been often noticed in China tea a

very strong aroma, which, although pleasant to the

smell, makes the infusion (especially when it has cooled)

of a rather sickly taste. Mr. Ball says on this subject:

—

" The Chinese seem universally to agree, in ancient as

in modern times, that no factitious scent can be given to

tea "which at all equals its natural fragrance ; in short,

they say that ' only common tea requires scenting.'

Those persons who have had an opportunity of drinking

some of the finest kinds of Souchong tea will perhaps

agree with the Chinese in this opinion. There are,

however, many scented teas, which, so far from being

inferior, are even costly, and much esteemed both in

China and in Europe. Of these the Chu Lan, or

Cowslip Hyson, may be considered the best. I shall

therefore now explain the manner in which I have seen

this process performed ; vrhich, indeed, does not differ

greatly from that in practice 900 years ago, as described

in the Keun-Fang-Pu, a Chinese herbal. The flowers

may be gathered at any time of the day, but those

are considered the best and most fragrant which are

gathered while the dew is yet on the leaves.

" The tea about to be scented must be taken hot

from the last roasting, vphich immediately precedes the

packing, and poured into a Hyson chest so as to form a

layer of two inches in height from the bottom. A

* Food Papers.

THE SUPERIORITY OF INDIAN OYER CHINA TEAS. 27

handful or more of the fresh flowers, already separated

from the stalks, is then strewed over the tea. In this

manner the tea and flowers are placed in layers until

the chest is quite full. The mouth of the canister is

then closed, and the tea thus remains twenty-four hours.

The proper proportion is three catties of flowers to 100

catties of tea. The next day the chest is emptied, when

the tea and flowers are mixed- together. They then

undergo the process of Poey, about three catties being

put in one sieve. The Poey Long is completely closed,

and the tea and flowers are thus roasted from about one

to two hours, or, rather, until the flowers become crisp.

The flowers are then sifted out, and the tea packed.

If the tea requires any further scenting, fresh flowers

must be used, and the process repeated as before. The

method of Poey is the same as that used for the black

tea, only that the bottom of the sieve is covered with

thin paper. The tea thus prepared is then mixed with

other tea in the proportion of one part of scented tea to

twenty of plain. The whole is then slightly heated in a

Kuo (Chao), and when packed constitutes the descrip-

tion often denominated in England CovFslip Hyson.*

Tea may be scented at any time with this kind of tea,

but it must be previoiisly heated or roasted about two

hours.

" The mode of scenting black tea differs from that of

green ; and, so far as I understand, there are two or

three methods of performing this process. The Sonchy

* No wonder.


or Caper teas, the Tex Siong, and other teas of the

cowslip flavour, are also scented with the Chu Lan

flower (Chloranthus inconspicuus).

" After gathering, the flowers are separated from the

stalks as hefore, when some people dry them in the

sun ; but the best mode is to dry them in a Poey Long

over a slow fire, taking care not to change the yellow

colour of the petals. When dried, they are put aside to

cool, and are afterwards reduced to a powder. If this

powder, the scent of which is very powerful, be sprinkled

over the leaves previously to the last or two last

roastings and rollings in the process of Poey, the tea

will be highly scented ; but this is an expensive mode,

on account of the additional quantity of flowers required,

and therefore is seldom practised. The usual mode is

by sprinkling a small quantity of this powder over the

tea during the last process of Poey, which takes place

previously to packing. A small white powder, frequently

found in black teas of the caper flavour, cannot have

escaped the observation of the tea-dealers in England.

This powder is that of the Chu Lan flower, whose

colour has been changed to white in the process of

Poey.

" There is another scented tea of excellent flavour,

which is made in small quantities, and occasionally

sent to foreigners as presents. This is a Souchong

tea, scented with the flower of the Pac Sheem {Gardenia

florida).

" There are two other scented teas, also of fine flavour,

both Souchong teas, the one scented with the Quy-fa

THE SUPERIORITY OF INDIAN OVER CHINA TEAS. 29

or Kuey-hoa {Olea fragrans), and the other with the

Moo-Ly-Hoa (Jasminum Sambac). Some people say

that these three last teas are mixed with the flowers, as

the Hyson tea is mixed with the Chu Lan, and are

scented in the same manner. But others say that two

sieves are placed in the Poey Long, the lower one

containing the flowers, and the upper one the tea. The

latter, is the mode in which the Pac Sheem tea, to which

I have previously alluded, is scented. These are all

the flowers with which I am acquainted, which are

employed to scent tea ; but in the Kuen-Fang-Pu and

Quang-Tong-Chy (or Canton Geographical History) many

others are enumerated as eligible for that purpose."

Such is the decoction prepared at no little labour and

expense by the " heathen Chinee." Taking it as true

that " good wine needs no bush," surely good tea that

is not deficient in volatile oil does not need the perfume

of other flowers. It is impossible not to agree with

the Chinese observation recorded by Mr. Ball, that

" only common tea requires scenting." An instance of

the injurious efi"ects of this foreign aroma was given me

recently by a gentleman lately resident in Assam, in the

Public Works Department. When staying at the sea-

side, it was his custom (Indian fashion) to let a cup of

tea remain over from breakfast to be drank when reading

the morning paper. But regularly every morning, shortly

after taking it, he experienced a feeling of the most

nauseous sickness. Not being particularly well at the

time, he not unreasonably supposed that his liver was

unpleasantly reminding him of India, and medicine

30 THE TEA INDUSTBY IN INDIA.

was taken ; but the feeling of sickness continued to

occur every day, and on mentioning the circumstance

to his family, he found they all suffered with the same

complaint. Thereupon the tea-caddy was investigated,

and its contents were found to be of a highly aromatic

and very pleasant odour. Next morning no tea was

used, and no sickness occurred ; on the following one it

was again tried, with the same unpleasant results as

before. On the same day an order was sent to London

for Indian tea.

At the recent exhibition in Sydney, the Chinese teas

subjected to a Government analysis were pronounced, in

many instances, to be adulterated with injurious, and in

some cases even poisonous, matters, while in the Indian

exhibits, placed under the same test, not one case of adul-

teration was recorded.

Against these many charges of the injurious adultera-

tion of Chinese teas, as far as I can anywhere ascertain,

I believe that there is,, if any, only one case on record

—and that of a long time ago—of anything approaching

adulteration of Indian tea. Every pound that is offered

for sale in England can be guaranteed as absolutely pure.

This is its reputation with the trade ; and in the course

of a very large number of enquiries, the only deviation

from this general belief in its purity, was an easily

explained remark, that in some of the broken teas, occa-

sionally small pieces of charcoal were found.

I happened recently to be speaking with the captain

of a sailing vessel who had just reached home after a

protracted voyage. In telling me how he had had to

THE SUPERIORITY OP INDIAN OVER CHINA TEAS. 31

signal to a passing ship for provisions, he said that

the tea given them " was strong Indian stuff that they

couldn't drink, and when diluted sufficiently not to rasp

their tongues (having no milk), it was unpleasantly

insipid."

The very lowest price realised for Indian tea is con-

siderably above the minimum obtained for that from

China ; the former is therefore of a higher standard and

of greater value than the latter.

Sir Walter Midhurst, the British Consul at Shanghai,

not long ago stated in an official report :

—

" We have to look to India for the perfection of tea-

culture ; there planting, firing, and packing, are all in

one hand, and the needful capital outlay to produce a

good result is not spared. In China these desiderata

are absent altogether, and the proceeds are in the pri-

mitive and unscientific style dear to the natives of this

country. Nothing, it may be safely advanced, but the

introduction of European capital and enterprise into the

tea districts, will save the foreign tea trade of China

from decay."

This local opinion of the Chinese tea industry is cor-

roborated by some of the authorities in Mincing Lane,

who, while not anticipating the collapse of the China

tea trade, believe that India, possessing all essentials to

success, will be able in the course of time to take the

lead, provided always that those engaged in the industry

work steadily and thoroughly, and upon sound principles

of agriculture and finance.

The value of Indian tea, in addition to its known


purity, is also upheld by its great strength. Mr. Ball

says on this subject : "'Strength and astringency are

more important qualities in tea than flavour ; and the

Assam tree seems to possess these in aa eminent

degree."

Another cause of the superiority is seen in the diffe-

rent ways in which the whole enterprise is conducted in

the two countries. In China, as has been shown, people

are not particular as to the kind of land in which they

plant tea ; beside which, the cultivation is carried on

almost exclusively by natives. The tea-plant is farmed

by the Chinese. Families have little patches, and make

the most they can out of them. Some sell their green

leaf, others make the tea and sell that. When the leaf

is gathered and sold to a buyer, it is very probably sold

again to someone else ; but while it is passing from one

to the other in this way, it is deteriorating every hour.

Or when the grower of the tea manufactures it, he sells

it to a buyer of made tea, who passes it to another, and

so on ; and often tea passes in baskets through five or

six hands to the sea-port, and is then packed. Large

dealers buy up tea, and put it aside until they have a

sufficiency of the kind for final sale : and the time that

elapses between the plucking of the leaf and the

packing of the tea is most indefinite. When the

grower of the leaf has sold it, or the tea made from

it, he has quite done with it : and what afterwards

becomes of it concerns him not in the least. He pro-

bably has an idea that the man who bought it from himwill sell it to someone else ; it possibly occurs to him as

THE SUPERIORITY OF INDIAN OVER CHINA TEAS. 33

. he whiffs his evening pipe of opium, that what has been

grown in his garden will be put on a ship and go a long

distance : but whether it will turn out good or bad, or

show a loss or a profit, is nothing at all to him. All

he has to do is to grow more leaf. How differently

matters are conducted in India ! Instead of putting tea

into the ground, as a last resource to get something to

grow on it, Indian planters are anxious to obtain the best

possible soil for their seed. The entire enterprise in

India is under European supervision. In China, as a

rule, the shipper knows nothing of the spot on which his

merchandise was grown ; and provided he realises well,

it is no matter to him whether the grower cultivated his

plants properly or not. In India, from first to last,

producing the crop and hearing of its sale is the care

and anxiety of one man. He selects his land, clears

and plants it. He may be working for himself or for

others ; but he gives his entire care and attention to

everything connected with his crop—gathering, manu-

facture, packing, and despatch—and considers himself

responsible for it all. Even when the tea has left him

he has not done with it, and he waits anxiously for

particulars of its sale. If the tea be faulty, there is no

getting out of it ; as errors of manufacture never escape

the London brokers. The Indian planter cannot afford

to treat lightly anything in connexion with the tea from

his estate ; and I may safely say that he has no wish to

do so. The consequence is, that Indian tea is most care-

fully grown, manufactured, and despatched. Nothing

can be worse than to delay the manufacture of tea, or to

3

31 THE TEA IN1JU8TBY I INDIA.

let it lie about, as is the case in China. An Indian

planter's most earnest wish is to manufacture his crop

as soon after plucking as can be done with safety, and to

despatch it as soon after manufacture as possible.

Indian tea, therefore, is superior to Chinese tea as a

growing plant; as a manufactured article, it suffers less

deterioration, is infinitely purer, and needs, and has,

no artificial doctoring to make it presentable ; its

intrinsic value is greater ; without it a very large pro-

portion of the present China imports would be unsale-

able ; when offered for sale side by side with China tea,

it enjoys the confidence of the buver in a far greater

measure than the latter does, and competed for as a

pure, economical, and useful article consumption.

35

CHAPTER IV.

INDIA AND TEA-PLANTERS.

During the last few years, the Indian tea districts have

come to the notice of people in England, satisfactorily

in a two-fold measure—as a field for capitalists, and as

a working sphere for many young fellows who could not

get into the right thing at home. In both respects,

circumstances have shown up several things favourable

to tea and India. Town residents in England who have

looked to other countries for openings for capital, have

been unable to see in Australia, New Zealand, or America

a satisfactory field, because nearly all mediums of in-

vestment rendered some particular knowledge necessary

to begin with, or else their capital was virtually placed

under the control of other people. As one of the London

journals recently said, it seems rather late in the day

for a man of say 24 or 25, after being used to town

life only, to go to America, or to the Colonies, to

begin to learn the principles of farming or stock-raising.

Most of the openings for capital in th^ Gbtonies are in

3 *


land ; and it is ridky, or, at all events, unsatisfactory, to

invest without at least a fair knowledge of the industry

entered upon. Where a man has been a dweller in

cities all his Hfe, he is Hkely to obtain only a secondary

knowledge of occupations so exacting as farming or

stock-raising. Then, too, it is generally expected that

anyone who goes in for agriculture in the Colonies will

himself do the work of at least one man ; but willing-

ness to do this will not produce the muscle and sinew

necessary. Then, as to non-capitalists. There are

many young fellows in England who are of such an

active temperament as to rebel at the prospect of an

indoor life, and who, from the same cause, have been

unable to settle down to the study necessary to a pro-

fession. They have not felt good enough for the Church,

not studious enough for the Bar, and although they

might have managed to pull through the years necessary

to the practice of medicine, and eventually pass, they

would do so only to find themselves lacking the capital

which is generally requisite for a fair professional begin-

ning. Studying for the higher grades of Government

service has been too severe for their fancy ; clerkships in

Banks or Public Companies, obtainable through in-

fluence, have seemed the only openings available, and

even those of but poor prospect as regarded the future.

For many such, the Indian tea districts have solved

the problem of what to do. A tea-planter's life is very

active, without giving any quantity of actually manual

labour ; but some of the duties of the vocation are of a

nature which'renders it necessary that a man should be

INDIA AND TEA-PLANTERS. 37

a good correspondent and book-keeper, and also have

a clear, well-balanced head, to enable him to grasp

the situation of factory administration in all its manybearings.

I have received from Messrs. W. and R. Chambers, of

Edinburgh, several requests for information as to the

tea-planter's profession; and I now wish to set the

whole matter plainly before the English reader, so that

he may be able to decide whether he is a fit man to

go to India, and also whether India is worth going

to. I shall hope to put out the entire subject in a

truthful, unbiassed light, from a strictly general point

of view, and not merely from the way in which tea-

planting agreed or disagreed with myself. I also hope

to be able to represent matters fairly for capitalists and

workers.

It will be a safe thing to begin by noticing the romance

which, in .the minds of people out of it, surrounds

India even now. The results of the marvellous accounts

brought home by the first representatives of John

Company in India, and supported by the gorgeousness

of the wealth of later arrivals, have seemingly been

to fix on the minds of the British public the idea that,

notwithstanding its heat and its fevers, India is still a

grand country of vast and easily-obtainable wealth, of

tigers, and shawls, and jewels, and elephants, and

palaces, and bungalows, and missionaries, and funeral

piles, and snakes, and heathens, and—well, ever so many

other things, strange and peculiar. With the exception

of the wealth and (perhaps) the funeral pile {Suttee),

38 THE TEA INDUSTBY IN IKDIA.

the other things are true ; but to the Anglo-Indian mind

they are not surrounded in any way by a halo of romance,

such as conceals their unpleasantnesses from people at

home. As for the wealth, the time has passed for people

to stand beneath the silver-tree in the moonlight and

whistle for the rupees to come down. The princely

fortunes of a century ago have become very rare things

indeed at the present time ; and natives no longer pay

their respects to various high officials with a salaami of

a plateful of gold Mohurs. (It is generally oranges or

bilious sweetmeats in the tea districts.) To people out

of official service at home, India at this time stands— or

ought to stand—in some respects, in the light of an

undeveloped country in which money is to be made by

steady work and a sufficiency of capital to start vrith.

India, for Europeans, has changed altogether from the

old-time order of things—even from that which ruled

sixty years ago. For then Europeans went to India

with the intention of settling there ; it was indeed a

" farewell " they gave on leaving home ; and they often

remained away, without a visit, until they were able to

return for good. They consequently became far moreIndian, and far less English, than do men at this time.

There were fewer English people in India, and fewer

English things ; the dak gharry served for the railway;

there was no telegraph, nor ice-machines in the plains

;

Green's liners went and came round the Cape, and the

mails could not then reach London from Calcutta in

twenty-three days. Western habits and Western social

observances have become comparatively general in India

INDIA AND TEA-PLANTEBS. 39

and the consequence is that EngHsh people remain

essentially English, and feel that with the Suez Canal

and the Mont Cenis Tunnel, home is close at hand. The

splendour of the native princes has well-nigh died out

of India, and the romance surrounding English life has

also gone ; and there remains a country near to England,

although differing in itself, where Englishmen manage

pretty successfully to live in a way that (with the ex-

ception of the numerous servants) fairly well resembles

life in their own land. I purposely review European

life in India thus, in the hope of preventing young fellows

going to the country only to have all the fallacious glory

and romance suddenly knocked out of them, on com-

mencing housekeeping in a tea-district bungalow.

Now, it is, of course, a very essential thing that only

the right kind of men should become tea-planters, both

for their own sakes, and also for that of the industry.

Farther on I shall show what kind of life is led on tea-

plantations, and the reader will be able to determine

whether he is the right kind of man for such a life. I

may safely say that people who are well fitted for indoor

occupations, and dislike the idea of an outdoor one,

should never seek positions on tea estates ; and that

those who find themselves comfortable and happy in

sedentary occupations should keep to them. It would be

wrong to say that good mercantile men (or office men

generally) cannot become good tea-planters; but I

would advise all men who feel themselves well fitted

for office life to keep to it. While I know some who

have become competent planters, I also know others

40 THE TBA INDtrSTET IN INDIA.

who have made complete failures. Now there are

periods in the life of almost every man, especially

when he is young, in which circumstances make him

think that some mode of life other than that in which

he is engaged would be far more pleasant and satis-

factory. Office men, as they sit in black coats over

their desks in the summer, think of the free and easy

life of inen in America or the Colonies (or the Indian

tea districts), where people " ride about all day long in

their shirt-sleeves, and never wear a collar." They

think this must be very jolly. Or, perhaps, as they

travel homeward after the work of the day, in the

face of a biting east wind, receive a small pellet of

thawing snow down the back from the hand of a wicked

boy who hides himself round the corner, they think

how much jollier it would be if they lived in a warmer

climate, where the east wind was not so keen, the boys

not so wicked, and where it did not snow at all. And

in the bright beauty of early spring, when Nature is

brilliant after the dreariness of the winter, they think,

as they bend over ledgers, how preferable would be a

walk amongst the fresh-budding trees, and a ramble in

the country ; in fact, how much better altogether would

an outdoor life be than an indoor one. Mercantile

London is almost a nautical community during the

summer holidays. The residents of towns often have

as great a wish to live in the country as country people

have to reside in towns—neither can see much beauty in

their surroundings. But the book-keeper would pro-

bably fail, physically and mentally, in a farmer's work,

INDIA AND TEA-PLANTEES. 41

and the farmer would want to return to his horses and

turnips when put to book-keeping. Men who are well

fitted for office life should keep to it, because that

fitness generally carries with it a train of appreciation

for other occupations which have no place—or scarcely

any—in a tea-planter's life. " Let the cobbler stick to

his last."

Shortly before I went to India I was fortunate in

being advised on several points 'by a Doctor from the

tea districts ; and, amongst other things, he told me to

take out all mediums of resource for occupying leisure

that I might possess—musical instruments, paint-boxes,

drawing materials, &c., as if I had leisure, and nothing

to occupy it, I should be in a bad way. Accordingly I

took flutes, a concertina, paint-boxes, as many books as

I could get, and a multitude of odds and ends, together

with an intention to be most industrious in utilising myleisure ; but when I had settled down in my quarters, I

found I had scarcely any opportunities for using the

preventatives of idleness with which I had provided

myself. It was possible to read just a little in bed at

night, under a mosquito-curtain ; and it was also possible

to try to charm snakes and jackals in the vicinity with

strains which I believed were musical. But playing

" Home, Sweet Home " on a flute, as a mosquito begins

a piano passage near your ear, with a crescendo movement

as it approaches the nose, and a forte finale as it settles

on the tip thereof, and in a bungalow that is solitary,

saye for the rats and bats, is not a cheerful occupation;

and the strains of a concertina seem to be strangely

42 The tea industbt in indIa.

wanting in something, if you happen to look outside

into the night, and see the silent jungle all around

you. It is in every way advisable to have some

resources for leisure, should the chance fall to your

lot ; but if a man has been in the habit of depending

upon settled methods of occupying his spare time, or

upon different social mediums for completing the

happiness of his life, he had better not go to the tea

districts ; for if he does, his existence is hkely to seem

something very Uke a curse to him. Men who are

socially active at home in literary, musical, debating, or

similar societies, or who are of a regularly studious turn,

who like to read and study in the winter evenings, and

take quiet strolls in search of botanical or geological

specimens, or perhaps to reason out more clearly some

theory that needs adjustment, during the summer, had

far better remain in England than go to the Indian tea-

plantations. And others who love the Sabbath because

of its quiet peace, and rest, and spiritual exercises, or

are active members of choirs or Sunday Schools, had

also better remain in England ; or their life will be

one long regret and wish to return. After the novelty

of being in a new country has passed away, they will

find themselves face to face with the hard fact that

everything that was most congenial to them has been

given up, and that they have reached a country

in which all the under-currents of pleasant, gentle,

social happiness are lacking. One fact should receive

the earnest consideration, primarily, of all persons think-

ing of leaving home for India. It is that the only


possible recompence for so leaving home is money. For

this they will have to give up almost everything which,

to the studious, makes life enjoyable. And they ought to

ascertain definitely what their prospect is, and put against

it what, as they will find a little farther on, is the life they

must expect. Now I am perfectly safe in saying that,

although not numerous, there are some young fellows

who are comparatively indifferent to money and wealth.

They are hard readers, never go to places of amusement,

are quiet and retiring, fond of the newspapers, and

always au courant as to the last thing in social meta-

physics, are admirably suited for office life, but unfor-

tunately sometimes think town life is very irksome;

that they would like to live in a little country cottage

"far from the maddening crowd," and grow roses and

strawberries in the day-time, and read books and

magazines at night. To such men (I have myself

known them) the life that they imagine prevails in the

tea districts seems to be just the very thing for them.

"When they hear that it means isolation, they say with

a chuckle, " Just the very thing; I like being alone."

When ill-health is spoken of, they think they will

take exercise and live carefully, and so keep well ; and

they give up the substance of home peace, and a vo-

cation for which they are admirably suited, for the

shadow ^of greater peace and greater quietude, and

then have to find out, with regret and sorrow that are

very sad to think of, that they are singularly well-

fitted for the quiet, studious regularity of home, and

singularly unfitted for the dreary, empty life of a


foreign Ian J. They woult! willingly excliange their

servants and their horses for the unpretending home

of their sisters and brothers, and infinitely prefer the

short ride every morning and evening by train or

omnibus to " riding about all day in their shirt-sleeves,

and never wearing a collar."

Now, on the other hand, there are many young men

who are not of this quiet, studious incUnation. They

are fond of cricket, and riding, and football, and shoot-

ing, and rowing, and so on ; and where the man pre-

viously depicted has, likely enough, never fired a gun in

his life, our active friend will rise at any hour in the

morning you choose to mention, and gladly go out fast-

ing on the chance of finding rabbits to bang at in a

turnip-field. Where the one glories in being alone in

his sanctum with a scientific book and a good fire, the

other delights in describing the figure of eight on the

ice, or having, according to his idea, a jolly evening with

a few friends. He is, more frequently than not, robust,

and ruddy, and likes to see the efiect of telling the

oftentimes slender reading man, as the latter shivers in

the cold, that he bathes in cold water every morning

of the year, and snow-balled his younger brother on the

previous evening, as the only alternative of doing so to

the passing poUceman. He is full of animal spirits and

bodily vigour, and is the kind of man who is well-

suited for the tea districts.

The relative prospects of the capitalist and the mere

appointment-seeker of course differ considerably. The

modes of procedure for the former are varied. Moneyed


partners for tea estates are sometimes looked for in

England, and an opening made on the plantation for

the investor ; or the capitalist goes to Calcutta and

effects the same thing there. While not for a moment

insinuating that thus doing is risky, I think it far more

satisfactory, and much more likely to prevent very pro-

bably eventual disputes, if a man will go to whatever tea

district he may decide upon, and see things for himself.

There will be no difficulty in doing this. Let him get

an idea as to the neighbourhood of the district he

fancies, and any firm in Calcutta interested in tea will

direct him to the best agents for information as to that

neighbourhood. He will then be able to write to

planters who will be mentioned to him, and will not, I

am sure, experience any difficulty. Let him state his

business plainly—that he wants to look about for land

to start a garden, or for a garden needing a moneyed

partner, sleeping or otherwise ; and any planter will do

his best for such a man. Another plan would be to

obtain a post (in London or in India) with or without

a salary, as assistant on a factory to which he would

proceed, and on which he would learn his work, looking

about him in- the meanwhile for an opening for his

capital. I do not feel able to recommend one mode of

procedure before another, feeling sure that circumstances

will invariably determine the best way to work. A man

might wish to invest in a new garden and to make it

himself; and I would advise such an one to act as

assistant for at least two years, in order to get an idea

of his work. He will not have very much experience


then, but sufficient to start with, if he has a few well-

informed neighbours about him : at all events, he will

have learnt the different modes of working with natives,

contracts, &c. He need not think that this time will

be lost to him, as he will be able to obtain in India

good interest for his money while it lies unused, and

will probably have made—or be able to make— a nice

little profit on exchange.

I would advise no man to be in a hurry to decide

upon his investment. Many gardens, both old and new,

at the present moment are greatly in need of financial

help ; and while it may be said to be now a good time

for investors, the rider must be added, '' provided they

are careful." The best thing for an intending share

purchaser to do would be to obtain a report from an

experienced planter, if possible, from another district,

in which all points would be carefully considered

and reported upon :—Tenure, buildings, labour, staff,

machinery, communication, general plant ; ratio of

increase in out-turn and expenditure during the last few

years ; the exact state of the factory advance account

;

the condition of the garden, as having been, or not,

well pruned, drained, and carefully treated ; the

number of hoeings in the previous year (to gauge the

sufficiency oi the labour) ; and, in addition, if possible,

a report from London tea-brokers, as to the standing

of the garden mark with buyers. I would not recom-

mend any man to work as an assistant on the estate in

which he has a share. The resident interest, unfor-

tunately, generally results in dissensions between the


part-owner and the experienced manager ; and in-

variably the financially weaker one eventually goes to

the wall, and loses his post. Even should this not

occur, it is almost impossible for the manager not to

feel in some degree or other that his assistant is his

employer, and that virtually, although manager, he is

the subordinate Through this, the common interest is

likely to suffer. Or should a capitalist purchase a share

in a garden, and be working as assistant on a neighbour-

ing one, he must not expect the manager of his own

(part) property to consider himself in any way under

the orders of his junior in experience. No agents would

exonerate a manager for so giving way. Sensible men

will, perhaps, say this is very needless advice. I thought

so myself at one time, but have since seen the need of

giving the caution. "Whom the cap fits," &c.

I had begun to refer to some estimates made a few

years ago, with the view of giving an idea as to the

cost of opening out land and making a garden ; but

remembering that each district has its peculiarities of

jungle, and of land measurements, and its own mode of

clearing and prepa,ring land, I feel that it will be quite

useless to give, in a book that should be general, esti-

mates that are applicable to one or two districts only.

In Assam, land is generally measured by the poorah—equal to about an acre and a third ; in Cachar, the hdl

(about five acres) rules ; and here also, contrary to

my Assam experience, a great deal of work is done

by contract with Bengali villagers—cutting thatch,

making bridges, nurseries, houses, &c. Then in some


districts even the jungle differs— heavy forest, grass,

bamboo.

Although less varied, the value of planted land is still

somewhat irregular. At one time there was a general

rate of sale for tea in fee simple land (freehold), with a

reasonable labour-staff, buildings, &c.

Bearing-land over 5 years old, Es. 800 to Es. 1,000 per acre.

,, under 5 years old, Es. 700 to Es. 800 per acre.

Non-bearing land 2 years old, Es. 400 to Es. 500 per acre.

But these rates have changed since I know of

Es. 1,800 per acre having been refused for above a

thousand bearing acres four years ago ; but probably no

such price would be obtainable now. Although in

buying estates, good buildings are an inducement, they

seldom count for much to the seller. Of late, some of

the old concerns in the older districts have been offering

parts of their originally enormous grants for sale. Land

was taken up years ago by the thousand acres, seemingly

to prevent another European opening out anywhere

near ; but a good deal of this conservative spirit has

passed out now, and the holders of old grants are

glad to sell land that they cannot use. But land is

obtainable from the Government on lease for thirty

years at a total cost during that period of Ps. 2 per

acre; after which, I believe, the lease is renewed in

perpetuity. (See Appendix.) But all timber on grants

so applied for has to be measured and purchased.

Taking up land on these terms is much easier in some

districts than in others, the timber being the obstacle.

INDIA AND TEA-PLANTBES. 49

Even were I able (which I am not) to give the pro-

bable selling-price of land, bearing or otherwise, in all

the tea districts of India, exceptions would be found to

my iigures, where owners of estates are very anxious to

obtain additional capital. So having shown the intend-

ing investor how to obtain all necessary information, I

must leave him to himself to do so. This, however, I

will say to him in closing : that if he buy well and

manage well, either personally or by deputy, provided

his hopes for the future are moderate, he ought not to

look forward to a residence of many years in India,

unless he wishes to take a lump sum of money out of

the country, or rushes into the everlasting new-clearance

mania, referred to in another chapter. If he will be

content with a remitted income, and satisfied with, say,

300 acres of plant, by putting in fifty acres per annum

for six years, in nine years from starting he will have

his acreage all bearing, and after staying through that

year to enjoy one full manufacturing season from his

property, he ought to be able to go home, provided he

finds a good manager (as he would be easily able to).

(See Appendix.)

Now for the case of the appointment-seeker. There

are various conditions of engagement in England. Some

of the Tea Companies with London Boards occasionally

send to India young men introduced by Directors, share-

holders, or others having infiuence with a Company's

executive. There are many private owners, also, who

appoint assistants in London. The terms of service

vary much. Appointments may be given on three, four,

4


or five years' agreements, with or without a free pas-

sage ; or a man may be expected to pay his own

expenses, and give his services gratuitously for twelve

months. Or it sometimes happens that, in addition to

this, a premium is required, ranging from one to five

hundred pounds. Another plan is, for a shareholder in

a private concern, resident in England, to arrange for a

relative or friend to live on the estate in which he is

interested, without a post, paying his quota of expenses

to the manager, and looking out for an appointment.

Or, as (unfortunately) frequently happens, young- fellows

obtain letters of introduction to mercantile firms in India

who are interested in tea, and go out to them in the full

expectation of having a post found for them. I think

I had better notice the last method first, and I am sure

that Indian tea-agents will consider I am rendering a

good service to their fraternity iu discountenancing this

mode of procedure in as strong a way as I can. I know

of one steamer that, amongst other passengers, in one

voyage took out (I believe) fourteen young fellows with

letters of introduction to the same firm in Calcutta, all

of which asked the principals to find a post in tea for the

writer's son, cousin, nephew, friend, or friend's friend,

son, cousin, or acquaintance, and which had evidently

been written in the belief that it was the ea.siest thing

imaginable for posts so to be found. As a member of

the inundated firm remarked to me : "If such people

would only write and inquire beforehand whether any

chance of finding an opening existed, something definite

might be arranged" ; but as it is, young men generally


get their outfit and take passage to Calcutta, each con-

fidently believing his interest to be such, that, whatever

may happen to others, he is sure to be given a post.

Further, it often happens that appointment-seekers are

in no way provided for an uncertain stay until, Micawber-

wise, " something turns up." Even where a man is well

provided with money, and willing to give his services

gratuitously for perhaps twelve months, it is not as easy

a matter as may be thought— as, indeed, I know is

thought—to find an opening for an assistant. Generally

in the tea districts, managers like to have their bungalows

to themselves, and there is consequently the expense of

putting up some kind of one for a new arrival ; in addi-

tion to which, some of the manager's time will neces-

sarily have to be given to instruct the assistant in his

work, help him with the language, &c. ; and the

manager may have too much on his hands to be

disposed for this. Young fellows who go out in the way

described are often sent up to gardens where they have

not been asked for and -are not required ; and working

without pay is, if anything, the reverse of an induce-

ment to a manager to take an assistant, because it is

liable to weaken the position that ought to be main-

tained between them. I would lay particular stress upon

the great unwisdom of anyone going out thus, or, as it

is generally called in India, "on spec." I know the

London office of several amalgamated tea concerns in

which a number of young fellows are working, and

wisely vi^aiting for vacancies to occur in India, instead

of going out upon an uncertainty.

^ *


Should any relative or friend write and say, " Come

out, and I will do what I can for you," that will be

a different matter altogether; but I leave the reader

to imagine the private feelings of a Calcutta merchant

who one fine morning is visited by fourteen young

fellows, everyone of whom confidently expects an im-

mediate appointment. T have spoken to such visitors,

and have several times found them angry and disap-

pointed because posts were not at once obtainable. I

daresay they have a better knowledge of affairs now.

Particularly at the present time it is a most unwise and

foolish thing for anyone to go to Calcutta thus—on spec.

Recent advices tell me that there is a large number of

experienced planters in the city who have lost their

posts on estates where bad times have compelled a re-

duction of establishment ; and many of them, being

without resources, are glad enough to take posts upon

the smallest salary that can well be offered Surely a

novice going out with a whole bundle of introductory

letters, cannot expect to be preferred to a man who

understands his work, and is obtainable for a salary

which in good times is given to new assistants. In the

Appendix I give a list of the districts in which tea is

cultivated, and also one of Calcutta agents, secretaries,

owners, &c. If, through English influence, the reader

can place himself in communication with any of these

firms, he will be in the right road ; but I would most

strenuously advise him, for his ow^n sake, no matter what

money he may have to keep him in India (unless he goes

as a capitalist to invest), on no account to go out on spec.


I would here mention that some of the tea districts are at

many days' distance by steamer from Calcutta, and the

expense of reaching them is not inconsiderable.

While I readily admit that for some men who have

so gone out posts have been provided, a large number

of vacancies have been simply created because of in-

sufficient funds to return to England ; and I also know

of men who, being financially better off, have seen

the advisability of returning, unpleasant and disappoint-

ing as was the proceeding. Indian towns are expensive

places to live in ; and many of the vacancies that I have

just said were created because men were in India, have

since had to be closed, through tea prospects being too bad

to support extensive establishments. But things once

again are brightening. The London Directory contains

a list of Indian tea companies ; and the industry, being

now a very considerable one, has many representatives

(socially) in England, who have interest or power to

give appointments ; and I would recommend anyone

desiring such to seek it in England, and not to go to

India upon the merest chance of succeeding.

We will suppose that in one way or another the

reader has secured an appointment, and gets ready for

India. (He will obtain in the Appendix an idea as to

what he will require.) There are several lines of

steamers running to Bombay and Calcutta, and no

difficulty will be experienced in finding a comfortable

vessel. Kegarding going away, I would say two things.

The first is, that the festive family -gatherings and

" farewell meetings " which generally take place when a


man is leaving home for the first time, frequently after-

ward cause more quiet sadness than pleasant recollec-

tion. I hope I am one of the last to say aught against

the love of kindred or family sentiment : but my own

experience has been that when the recollections of

*' good-bye " gatherings come to mind, they carry a man

back over the ocean to his home with more distinctness

than almost any other recollection, and show to him

with an almost painful clearness that he is indeed far

away from his friends. I know that it is natural to

indulge in the demonstratiTe evidence of good nature

;

but my advice is to keep it at the lowest measure

possible, because such outbursts of kindly feeling con-

stantly arise in memory, and rather unsettle a man. It

is likely enough that when the subject of a farewell

meeting has been seven days out, and the vessel is

(possibly) running along the Mediterranean Sea, he will

think, " Ah ! this time last week I had just left home

to go to Uncle Charlie's "; and as the hours of the

night come in apace, the remembrance will perhaps

spring up of how, just about that time a week ago, he

kissed his Httle cousin in wishing her '' good-bye," and

laughingly said he hoped she would not be too big for

the same thing when he returned. Ah 1 he feels con-

siderably less jovial in thinking about it thus, than he

did in doing it. Eeturn ? It is a strange country to

which he is going, one of fevers, and cholera, and dire

sickness. Will he ever return ? And he looks out into

the night, far across the ocean, and thinks of the

hundreds of miles a week has put between him and his

India and tea-plantees. 65

loved ones ; lie wonders will they, just then, be thinking

of what was transpiring seven short days ago. Hepictures faces becoming wrinkled, and hair growing

silvery, and thinks of hearts that have begun to yearn

for his return, even before he has reached his destina-

tion ; and it seems to him that he had better take a hand

at whist, put on a cigar, or play at draughts (solid ones)

with a passenger, in order to change the current of his

thoughts. The future will have for the emigrant far

fewer rushes of recollection such as this, if there be but

a small number of monumental pillars in his memory's

citadel; It may be almost said that the more joyous

such parting meetings are, th,e more unsettling will

their remembrance be. Each man should strive to

leave England as soon after he has decided to go as

possible, and get away with as little social demonstra-

tion as may be ; for the less he has of this, the more

contentedly will he be able to meet the future with

whatever it may bring. And let the evidence of afiection

be great or small, the traveller will likely feel his going

away a great deal less than do those who remain. The

glamour of excitement will be upon him ; and the bustle

of preparations, together with his roseate anticipations

of the future, will prevent him, until he has really left,

from realising the solid reality of his having done so

—

that he is leaving home, and kith and kin, in the words

of the beautiful old song :

—

" It may be for years, or it may be for ever."

Ever ? The only thought that has place in his mind


at the moment is that he is going away to make his

fortune, and will return home in a few years, bronzed

and (probably) bearded, and with plenty of money. I

have no wish whatever to " pile on the agony "; but I

write what has been the experience of many men in India,

because I am anxious that young fellows should not spoU

their lives by looking upon emigration as a continuous holi-

day, when really it is a most earnest and serious matter.

The other point is, to advise every man, to the best

of his ability, resolutely to make up his mind to meet

the circumstances of his life bravely, and, so far as he

possibly can, to like his occupation—not merely to agree

with himself to do so, but to actually tell himself that he

wiU, Some persons may think this is altogether need-

less ; I do not. It often happens that, perhaps years

after a man has left home, he requires some mental

stimulant to invigorate him, because he is much inclined

to be disappointed with his position, with the country,

and with nearly everything about him and connected

with him. I have the testimony of several, that it will

help a man much if he is able to remember that vs^hen

arranging his cabin just after the vessel in which he left

home cleared the docks, he told himself that he was

going from home in the belief that he was acting wisely,

and that he promised himself he would face the future

courageously, and not be faint-hearted ; and the recol-

lection of the past will very likely strengthen him, and

he will resume his duties bravely.

We will take it, then, that our embryo planter is

fairly on his way to India. While not wishing to draw

INDIA AND TEA-PLANTKES. 67

a melancholy picture of the future, the outward voyage

cannot be taken as a fair indication of the order of

things before him. Oftentimes young fellows think,

'

' Well, this is pleasant enough, and is only on the way

to India ; what will the country itself be ? " I can

promise that, in many respects, not quite so pleasant.

People leaving home for the first time, cannot be too

careful on board the steamer. I am not going to draw

up a moral code for the guidance of passengers, but

would just say that India is a strange country, in which

people know of each other, although living at distances,

in a way which has no parallel in England. I imagine

the cause to be, that as they go to the country in batches,

everybody knows, at all events, a few persons in India

;

and in speaking to locally-made acquaintances, it often

happens that other passengers who are in remote parts

are mentioned, and the listener seems to know them

quite well. The incidents of a voyage belong and apply

to passengers generally ; they are often retailed in

different parts of the country, and most passengers are

spoken of in such narrations, more or less, at some

time or other. It is therefore advisable that each indi-

vidual should be careful to prevent the voyage record-

ing anything unpleasant against him ; for should he

make an ass of himself in any way, it will be known in

many parts of India. Oddly enough, it frequently

happens that when such has been the case, a man does

not hesitate to tell others of his own stupidity, yet thinks

it exceedingly unkind of any other passenger to retail it

of him. It is not an unusual thing in India, in holding a

58 THE TEA INDUSTRY IN INMA.

conversation after an introduction with a stranger, to

be asked

:

"By the way, didn't you come out from home in the

Magnet ?"

" Yes," you reply. " How did you know ?"

" Oh ! a friend of mine, Donison—a dressy httle chap

—has mentioned your name ;" and then, sotto voce, " he

told of how you were with him at Malta and lost your

hat, when all of you had to get down the steps three

at a time to the boats."

You do not feel obhged to Donison ; if he made a

fool of himself that is no reason why he should couple

your name with his nonsense ; but as voyage episodes

are almost pubhc property in India, if there is anything

that can be said about you, you may pretty safely rely

upon somebody telhng it. " Prevention is better than

cure " : so the conclusion of the whole matter is, do

nothing that you would dislike hearing of again; and

if other people are less careful, then "do as you would

be done by " regarding them.

Another piece of advice is, do not worry old Indians,

because old Indians do not like being worried ; and

surely that is a valid reason for leaving them alone. If

you see a portly old gentleman asleep on a deck chair,

do not chalk at his feet in an outlined tablet " I am

hungry " ; also do not victimise any good-natured old

person, who may have been kind enough to give you

the Hindustani for a few words, by arousing him every

morning for the translation of various useless phrases;

because if you assail him thus, by rapping at his cabin


door before lie has risen, and inquiring, " Ifyou please,

Mr. Jellavey, will you excuse my troubling you, but I

should be much obliged if you would be so good as to

tell me the Hindustani word for ' pop-gun,' and the

English for ' mdtwallah,' which I heard a Lascar say as

you passed by him last night," you are hkely to receive

the contents of his water-can over your head.*

I certainly do strongly recommend every passenger

to acquire what knowledge he can of the language on

his way out. As he will not be able to learn very much,

if any, on the voyage, I would advise him to keep to

Hindustani, which will help him (as a rule) in any part

of Hindustan. But should he be able, he would do well

so to learn from any passenger who has hved in the

district to which he is going. Even (what passes for)

Hindustani varies in the different parts of India ; and manyof the nouns and verbs used as Hindustani in Assam, have

no place in what passes for that language in Cachar.

In novels of the startling order, there is often given

a picture of the elderly Anglo-Indian, as a violent, ill-

tempered, fire-eating individual, using all kinds of strong

expressions, and even swearing in an unknown tongue.

I can only say, for myself, that I have never met such

a man. Social life amongst Europeans in India, no

* In reading this over, I am sorry to say that I feel it almost

necessary to state that having myself seen these two modes of

worrying perpetrated, I mention them in the light of censure, and

not as an incentive ;—as was remarked by the Irish temperance

advocate who gave each attendant at his lecture a glass of whiskey

to prove what nasty stuff it was.


matter how rough the surroundings, aims always at the

maintenance of studied etiquette one to the other, in

both action and speech. PoHshed men leaving England

for India seldom, if ever, return to it rough and uncouth;

indeed, results may almost be said to point the other

way. I was much surprised at not finding this loud-

speaking, arrogant, supercilious Anglo-Indian, of whomI liad read, and on inquiring as to his existence from

a quarter of a century resident in India, I was told

that he was imaginary. Certainly, my further expe-

rience at home—in business and at the Clubs—points

to the opposite of the picture drawn by (I suppose)

novelists who have never been in the country spoken of.

At the same time, having been, as a rule, accustomed

to social ease, Anglo-Indians, especially elderly ones,

have a strong aversion to being troubled. They are

willing enough to give you plenty of information about

India as experienced by themselves, but I would advise

inquiring minds to look to younger persons on board

for Lexical guidance.

It will be a wise thing to obtain a good map of India

before leaving England. It is possible to live in the

tea districts for years and to know scarcely anything

of other parts of the country. In returning home, most

people—speaking of India as they do of London—expect

you to know every place in it ; and it is easy enough

for a man to help himself much in this respect by having

a good map to refer to, after hearing places mentioned

in the course of conversation. (See Appendix.)

As to the voyage to India being pleasant or other-

INDIA AND TBA-PLANTEES. 61

wise, depends very much upon oneself. I shall pass

the subject now, leaving the passenger to ascertain for

himself the different places stopped at en route, the

various proceedings at Diamond Harbour and Aitchee-

pore, as he nears Calcutta, and suppose him arrived at

the City of Palaces.

He will have received—or should have obtained—full

information as what to do on arrival in Calcutta, to

whom or where to go, &c. Europeans in India are

very hospitable ; and a new arrival will find no difficulty

in ascertaining the way to set about his business. Office

hours may be said to begin from 10 a.m., and morning

calls are expected (if I remember correctly) between

12 and 2 o'clock. I think I had better, for a moment,

refer to the subject of a previous paragraph, and advise

strangers having social calls to make, to inquire of any

Calcutta folk on board what to say to the Durwan of the

houses they may call at, what that individual will say to

them, and so on. I remember a case of a newly-arrived

Doctor thus making a call, and who having learnt

the order of things, inquired of the Durwan, " Mem-

sahih hai ?" and receiving the answer, " Hai," gave his

card, which was taken up-stairs. But when the door-

keeper returned with " Mem-sahib Ap ko salaam det'ta,"

Galen's disciple forgot the translation he had learnt, and

not understanding what the Durwan said, got into his

conveyance and went away ! For the benefit of the

uninitiated, I would say that the Durwan's observation

was, " The lady gives her salute (or compliments) to

you," which implies, " Please go to her." Should the


door-keeper when asked, "Mem-sahib hai?" reply

" Mem-sahib nahin hai, likhin Missie-bdbd-logue hai," the

visitor must act for himself ; as I decline to he his guide

in such an event, and thus risk ha\ing this hook even-

tually charged with hringing about what may he most

serious results. This by the way ; now to resume.

In all probability our tea-planter elect will not make

a long stay in Calcutta. Of course, if joining tea estates

in Ceylon, he would have left at Colombo or Galle, or

if going to the Neilgherry hills, have probably disem-

barked at Madras. He will easily obtain all informa-

tion as to continuing his journey from the Calcutta

representatives of the concern he is to join, and we

will suppose that he makes a start and reaches his

destination.

And now, lest my own experience should mislead any-

one as to districts I know nothing of, I will say that

the next part of this chapter refers only to Assam and

Cachar, although I have reason to believe (that with the

exception of the Darjeeling Terai) affairs are pretty

much the same, with possibly the advantage of less

unhealthiness and consequently less favourable climate

for tea. And of these two districts, I believe I shall be

correct in saying that in Cachar planters are closer to-

gether, and have greater social advantages than Assamones generally have, as club-houses in the station, hockey-

clubs, &c. ; and, I would just mention in passing, the

use of boats in moving about from place to place, morethan seems to be the case in Assam, or, at least, so far

as my own knowledge goes. On the other hand, whereas


steamers reach the uppermost stations in Assam, on the

Brahmapootra, all the year round, they can only go to

Silchar (the principal station in Cachar) for about half

the year, and coimtry boats have to be used ; and

although local planters use them readily, the mode of

travelling seems less pleasant to those used to Assam

steamers.

It is usual, I believe, for young fellows looking to join

tea properties, to expect that everything in connexion

therewith will be very rough ; and because of this, many

I know are surprised, on first arriving, to find much

greater domestic ease than they anticipated. Certainly,

there are frequent anomalies—or seemingly so—such as

a moderately costly dinner-service and a fair display of

plate on the table of a bungalow that has been made

habitable without a pane of glass or a brick ; or

planters holding highly-paid positions wearing (to quote

Josef Sprouts) white " trousers that are patched about

like draught-boards, and boots that are fearfully and

wonderfully made." But I think the new arrival will be

most struck with the personal freedom that exists betvfeen

managers and assistants. Particularly will this appear so

to anyone who has left English mercantile life. Whilst

it is advisable, and is, I should add, customary, for dis-

cipline to be maintained, it is done with an entire absence

of that marked distinction which at home at once shows

to the most casual observer which is the superior of two

men in an ofl&ce. This open demeanour is very pleasant;

and although official squabbles do sometimes occur, the

individual bearing of managers toward assistants, and


vice versa, is one of thoroughly good-fellowship and free-

dom from restraint. There are not too many of one's

own countrymen in the Indian tea districts ; and it seems

to he a mutually understood thing for those who are

there to stick together as much as possible. Nothing

pleases natives so much as to see Sahibs at variance ; and

it is consequently the social duty of every man to guard

against gratifying the native populace in this regard. I

may safely promise the new assistant that he will find

himself kindly received by all the men he may meet

;

and he will have more invitations to visit different

factories than it be wise for him to accept, at all events

at the first.

In beginning his work, I V70uld recommend that the

young planter should resolve upon two things. His

terms of service will give him a pretty accurate idea as

to his prospects ; let him study them carefully, and make

up his mind for a trip home in a certain number of years,

and work for this. He will meet some men who have

been home after five years, and others who have been

out that time and are as far from being able to go home

as they were on first arriving. The other thing is, to

use every effort to save, as soon as possible, sufficient

money to cover expenses home. Cases happen some-

times of young fellows having to leave the country

through illness, after twelve months' stay ; and although

such cases are rare, they do occur. When it is a matter

of life and death to get out of the country, and the

estate cannot pay for a passage home, and there is no

time to write to England for funds, nor any friends in


India from whom one likes to ask for temporary help,

the position is a very unpleasant and critical one. Aman never knows how soon he will be obliged to go home

;

but the future, as regards that event, will not trouble

him at all if he have sufficient money banked to meet

expenses. No one will blame a young fellow for saving

money ; it is the purpose for which nearly every Euro-

pean goes to India, and it is the last thing hat many

succeed in accomplishing. Generally, the really success-

ful men are those who begin to save money when drawing

small pay. It will help a man to effect this, if he will

govern his expenses, as long as he can, by the English

standard of value, i.e. that a rupee is (nominally) of the

value of 2s., that 2s. is the tenth of a sovereign, and

that a sovereign will take him more than a hundred

miles from Calcutta towards home. The absence of

shops and stores, excepting in a few localities, in the tea

districts, generally compels men to obtain their require-

ments from Calcutta ; and writing for goods is a pleasant

occupation, and an easy means of obtaining them. What

I might almost call the "Indian rule of dozens," is a

great snare. It is not customary at home to buy tooth-

brushes, white waistcoats, trousers, and pipes by the

dozen or half dozen ; but it is in India, and the result is

surprising. Indian prices, too, after English ones, seem

more like those of fancy bazaars held in aid of chapel-

building at home, than of genuine trade ; but they are

genuine enough, notwithstanding. Then as regards the

tea districts, to goods thus priced there always has to

be added the cost of transit.

6

66 THE TEA INDUSTEY IN INDlA.

It will be in every way desirable for the assistant to

make himself familiar with the language, or languages,

of his district, as quickly as possible. Let him stitch a

few half-sheets of paper together, carry them in his

pocket, and at one end write down all the words he hears

and does not understand, and at the other everything

he wishes to say and cannot ; and then, when oppor-

tunity offers, ascertain what is necessary. He had

better write down everything he wants to know, and not

trust to his memory, or he will probably be asking the

same question several times. If he has to look (as he

probably will have) to his manager for guidance in this

matter, I would recommend him to be regular in his

time of questioning—say the first thing in the morning,

or just before dinner in the evening, when the manager

is not engaged with natives, or occupied with any work.

Particularly let him be careful not to visit the bungalow

just after breakfast, because he may find his superior

just getting into a comfortable doze ; and " I hope I amnot disturbing you, but I have come to ask a few words,"

will likely enough cause the persecuted manager to think,

" Ap hum ho aisa dik det'ta roj bd roj." (By the time the

assistant has troubled his manager a great deal, he will

probably understand this sentence.) A source that often

exists for obtaining information in the language, is the

native doctor on the factory. These men are frequently

able to speak a fair amount of BngUsh, but do not do so

where the manager is a good linguist ; or if they can

speak only a little, they are likely to have dictionaries

for reference. But the assistant must be careful to

India akd tea-plantees. 67

seek the Doctor Babu's help in this matter away from

his house, as it is always an open question whether

educated natives like an European to enter their dwelling.

I would advise the assistant not to let his inquiring

mind lead him into the error of continually pulling out

his book under his manager's nose, should that (the

manager, and not the nose) be the only source of inform-

ation. Now and again will not matter, but regularly

doing so vpill become something of a bore. If notes

must be made out-of-doors, always endeavour to make

them in the shade ; because the rays of the sun on any-

thing white placed immediately beneath the eyes makes

it almost blinding. Acquiring the language is an im-

portant matter. I believe I may say that assistants will

find themselves thinking that when a native speaks

English well, he must be a sharp fellow, and where, if

at all, only badly, the reverse. Natives look on Euro-

peans in a very similar light, believing that perfect speech

represents long residence, and long residence a know-

ledge of their ways (literally, artifices) ; consequently,

endeavouring to get the better of such a Sahib is use-

less. It may be somewhat hurtful to the feelings of

new assistants to know that until they can make them-

selves understood, and thereby get work properly done,

their salary is a loss to the factory ; so the sooner they

overcome this, the better. Having gone through it all

myself, I very readily admit the natural objection a young

feUow feels to trying to speak when he is but too well

aware of his ignorance, and thereby making, as he feels

it, a fool of himself before natives. But he can only

6 *

68 THE TEA INDUSTRY IN DIA.

learn the language by making mistakes and struggling

on ; and do this he absolutely must, before he can be of

any use. If he cannot tell people how to do a thing, let

him show them; and if he is able to put a sentence to-

gether, with the exception of the verb (I am aware that

the exception is important), let him substitute the

English word for it, or say "hocus," or anything else,

so as to complete his sentence, show what he wishes

done, and then put down in his book the word he wants

to know. Asiatics have a marvellous control over their

countenances ; and it will be a really almost unpardon-

able error of speech that extracts a smile. And even

should a young assistant be laughed at, he will have to

bear it ; and, if wise, he will do so cheerfully, remem-

bering that it rests with himself, and is dependent

upon his own assiduity, to make natives appreciate him

on the very ground they may at first laugh at him.

I always found that bungalow servants and factory

people of a higher status than coolies, at all times did

their best to get at what it was intended by a new Sahib

to convey; although, in afterwards remembering how

I used to speak, it seemed that almost a process of

mental surgery must have been necessary to arrive at mymeaning. It is as hkely as not that a man wUl some-

times feel dissatisfied—especially after being only a short

time at work—and fear he is not making progress in the

language. He need only look back and remember howmuch (or rather, how little) he knew on the first day of

his arrival, to remove this fear.

As the planter settles down to his work, he will


probably begin to wonder what his prospects are for the

more remote future. He will perhaps realise (in a way

he has not previously) that in leaving home he has

entered a course in which, for his own credit's sake, he

ought to continue until he makes it a success. And

the fact that men are near him who left home with

precisely the same hope and intention, but who have

up to that time failed, will make a new man particularly

solicitous as to his own future. He will do well to start

with the conviction that there will be no such thing for

him as suddenly making a fortune. Tea estates do not

contain diamond mines. In an earlier part of this

chapter, I have shown that a capitalist, by planting fifty

acres annually for six years, ought to be able to go

home at the end of nine, the owner of a remunerative

300-acre garden. Perhaps I ought to have referred him

to some instances in Cachar, where 400 acres were planted

in three years, and even 800 acres in two years ! These,

however, were not the transactions of individuals, but of

joint concerns or companies ; and I advised for solitary

investors. A new planter may think that if a capitalist

must stay nine years in the country, what an awful time

a man without money will have to wait ! But this does

not follow. Sometimes when a planter has brought his

own garden of 200 or 300 acres into bearing, instead of

going home he begins making another factory. Of

course he can do as he likes with himself and his

money; but I sketched the possible career of a man

who would be satisfied with 300 acres, and make an

estate . of that area by degrees. This extent of land


could be put under plant in one season ; but the cost of

bringing it into bearing would be enormous. A new

planter will notice that he does not come across many

elderly men in the tea districts—or even middle-aged

ones—and he will probably be told that Europeans

cannot live to be old in the tea districts. Unpleasant

truths of this kind will make him desirous of seeing

how soon he can get out of the country. A future

independence may be hoped for in several ways, and

his own ideas as to affluence or comfort must guide

the planter. He may look forward to putting by enough

money from his salary in the course of a number of

years to give him an income in England, or look to

saving as much as will enable him to join two or three

other planters in opening out a garden. More probably

than not, he will change his way of thinking many

times. He will differ from most youngsters I have

met, if he does not, for some time after arrival, express

his steadfast belief that he would not go home if he

could. Indeed, the only exception I ever knew to this,

was the case of a young fellow who was living in par-

ticularly comfortable quarters with a relative ! Very

likely at one time our hopeful friend will make up his

mind to save what money he can, join other planters

in making a garden, remain on until it is brought

into full bearing, and then go home, or sell out and

go home, to make sure of his money. Or (probably

after an initiatory attack of fever) he will decide to

save £500 as soon as he can, and then go home.

Later, in the cold weather, when he is feeling well


and hearty, he will think that staying out until he is

forty will not see him returning home for good at such

a very advanced age, and so he will save his money

to join other men in opening out, and not sell his

share when the land comes into full bearing, but have

occasional trips home, and so be able to wait until

he can do so finally with a really good income. And

then, perhaps on the following day, after he has quite

determined on thus doing, he will receive long, loving

letters from home, enclosing Christmas cards and

telling of Christmas festivities ; and as he sits by his fire

in the evening, with the idea of his own garden running

in his head, he will read his letters again, and thinking

of the long interval between the then present and when

this imaginary garden will be in full bearing and giving

him a large income, be likely enough to say, "Well, I

don't know—home is the best place after all ; I think

I should sell out when the garden came into bearing,

and be content with the interest I could obtain on the

money in England." Let me, in all kindness, tell these

castle-builders, that they might as well write home to

an architect to plan for them such a house as they

would like to live in (as probably as not on the Indian

bungalow style, only a great deal nicer, you know), as

thus, years before they are ready, to plan their future

for themselves. Their future is wisely hidden from

them. But this I can say to cheer them, that the first

100 rupees they save is a good and sure foundation for

the wheel of fortune to work on, if they will but con-

tinue steadily and perseveringly to add spoke to spoke

72 THE TEA INliUSTBY IN INDIA.

until the wheel is perfect. Also, that it will be early

enough to decide upon the use to which the money shall

be put, when it is obtained ; and there will not he the

least difficulty in putting it into a garden or investment

of any kind fancied, at such a time. Indian rates of in-

terest are generally higher than at home ; but the great

cause of the financial disappointment of masiy men is

that they believed they could not begin to save when on

small pay, and they consequently have never saved at

all ! I write thus, in the earnest hope that young

fellows will make an effort to begin to put money by, if

in any way possible, from their very first month's salary;

for in so doing they will be pushing forward the hand of

time on the dial of the future, as regards their going

home for good, and in thus making a beginning to save

will be practically guarding themselves against extrava-

gance. When men have once left home, unless their

health completely gives way, they do not like to return

acknowledged failures. They say (perhaps) that " the

old people expected different things," and they will not

go home to disappoint them. Ah! the "old people"

would often have the absent ones back again on any

terms ; and the knowledge of this only shows the failure

to be more complete, and renders the compulsory

sojourn more unbearable. Yet, I can see plainly enough

that the ability to go home as one would wish—as every

one anticipates in leaving—depends almost exclusively

upon oneself. But it will be a hard thing after years in

the country—years of health risked and strength lessened

—^to have to acknowledge personal failure in this respect.


As time passes on, the planter will get into the steady

swing of his work ; an insight into the beauties of the

aative character, and the emptiness of his surround-

ings, will probably cause him to change his mind—or

at all events to modify his notions—as to not going

home if he could. And here I would say that tea-

planters are undesirably placed in being surrounded

by the lowest orders of natives. The writers on tea

-estates are invariably only villagers who have received a

local education ; and, as a rule, there is no higher nalive

talent represented than that of the Doctor Babu. I

mention this for tea-planters of all periods of experience,

hoping it may somewhat reconcile them to their sur-

roundings, and prevent them from basing their opinion

of the entire native character exclusively upon the

specimens at hand in the tea -districts. For in so

doing, they judge unfairly men in other parts of India,

of whose excellence they necessarily have scarcely

any knowledge; and they also increase the unplea-

santnesses of their own lives, by believing that they

are living in a country that is almost as devoid of

"really decent, reliable natives," as Sodom and Go-

morrah in the old time were of righteous men. It is

unjust to strike the intellectual average of any nation

by the lowest of its peoples, and in the absence of

its better classes. I mention this, because I have a

long string of undesirables to show the intending

planter, and I (wisely, I hope) begin by " pouring oil

"

into one of the many sore places in the lives of tea-

planters.


This intellectually low condition of the cooly (I leave

other people to write about the gentleman's morals)

should cause consideration to be given to the fact, that

while he undoubtedly possesses a head, the nature of its

contents is still an unsettled question as regards brain.

The homely Assamese express themselves innocently

when promising to remember anything, by saying it

shall remain in their stomach ! But then, of course, the

Assamese cannot strictly be called a learned people;

and it is therefore quite possible that they do not know

where their brains are (if they have any). Be this as it

may (f n- 1 am sure I cannot decide the matter), coolies

should not be expected to grasp the gist of an order

directly it is spoken. It requires great patience to be

thus forbearing, I well know ; but when it is remembered

that coolies are looked upon generally as the dubious

possessors of brain power, they surely should not be

hurried in their process of comprehending what is said

to them. Young planters should hasten them judi-

ciously, but never hurry them. It is possible to makeone's life a constant jar and dissatisfaction, by allowino-

oneself to be worried and vexed unceasingly by the

stupidity of coolies. Where any of them seem incapable

of comprehension, the better way is to get a fellow

cooly who is blessed with understanding, to interpret in

his own way what is wanted, rather than to fidget one's

existence by troubling over coolies' mental denseness.

There are too many other things to make life the

reverse of jovial, to render it wise to be vexed with

coolies. Into these the planter will gradually be initiated


as the time passes, and as he becomes accustomed to

his work and his surroundings.

This will not take place, however, in the space of a

few months. At least a twelvemonth will be necessary

for the planter to see the complete routine of factory

work, from pruning, seed-planting, and cold weather

work generally, in one year, to the close of manufac-

turing, seed-gathering, &c. in the following. Andalthough in the time mentioned, the assistant, in all

probability, will have settled down to his work and be

able to get along comfortably with the natives, he will

not have become mentally acclimatised, even should

he have done so physically, sufficiently to realise the life

he has chosen. For even the changes of work on the

factory will be novelties to him, as v^ill the seasons, the

native festivals, &c. And another one, of questionably

pleasant character, will be in store for him in the tea-

districts' mode of keeping Christmas. Nearly all

Europeans spending Christmas for the first time on

tea estates, think almost longingly of the home

way of celebrating the great Christian festival. The

climate will prevent all feeling of " old Father Christ-

mas," with his snow-sprinkled beard and holly bough.

As likely as not, assistants will be at work during part

of the day, and will wonder at the indifference shown

by longer-time residents to the festive occasion. By the

time their second Christmas in India arrives, they will

fully understand matters.

There will be very many things for the planter to be-

come accustomed to—first of all, the heat. It is by no


means a rare event for young fellows joining tea estates,

to suffer from a great wish to become sunburnt, and to

accomplish this they wear a small topee when they ought

to wear a large one. I would first say that no one

can be too particular in taking care of the head. I

have known cases of very serious injury being done to

the brain through youngsters thinking they could stand

the heat, and thereupon wearing a hat giving but in-

sufficient protection. In addition to the heat there will

be the long hours and hard work—far longer and much

harder than falls to men out of agricultural callings at

home. If a new assistant be placed in the tea-house of a

large factory, he must be prepared to exist in an almost

parboiled condition for several months in the year. It was

my own experience (and was that of others also) to be on

duty in a tea-house—a brick building with a corrugated

iron roof (which attracted and retained the heat beauti-

fully)—and the heat of which may be possibly imagined

when I say that the thermometer in the thatched, shady

bungalow registered at times above 90° of temperature,

and that in the tea-house there was a steam-engine to

drive a rolling-machine, and for drying the tea fully 200

charcoal fires, which sometimes in the height of the

manufacturing season were not out for days together.

One does not know the amount of heat it is possible to

bear, until it has to be borne. The style of dress adopted

in jungle life assists in this matter immensely, as also

does a quiet determination to bear the heat, and not to

get irritable about it. Particularly does this apply in

bed at night ; and sleep being a most important agent in


health, I think I am justified in mentioning it. Myadvice is, that on getting into bed, should the reader find

the heat well-nigh overpowering—as he is absolutely

certain sometimes to find it—he will do well to remember

that he must bear it, and that restlessly throwing himself

from one side to the other will certainly not make him

cooler, and that the best thing to be done is to lie quietly

without changing his position. It will also happen

sometimes at night, often when a change is about to

occur in the weather, that a man will wake up feeling

parched and feverish, and almost gasping for breath;

by taking at such times a copious drink of water, and

quietly lying down again in bed, he will be almost sure

soon after gradually to feel a gentle perspiration

relieving the temperature of his body, and he will

fall into a pleasant, refreshing sleep. It may almost be

said that planters live in a state of chronic perspiration

for eight months in the year, which becomes very

wearisome towards the end, the more so as the rainy

season is the unhealthy one also. I think I may safely

advise every assistant going to the districts I have men-

tioned, calmly to make up his mind to be ill. Should

he not have learnt the fact already, I would tell him

that where tea thrives best, men die quickest. I take

it on medical testimony that men must get ill some-

times in the tea districts. It is a thing common enough

in England to find men in rude health, and who boast

that they have taken no medicine for years. This kind

of thing does not exist in the tea districts. Men have

good health in the cold weather, but I may almost say

78 THE TEA INDUSTBT IN INDIA.

never right throughout the rains. The planter who

enjoyed the greatest immunity from sickness of all the

men I knew in India, was very nearly a total abstainer,

and took a glass of medicine every morning on leaving

his bed. Fever and ague are the common foes to tea-

planters, and are generally brought on by biliousness or

by chills from getting wet. This reminds me of another

frequent failing in the belief of new assistants—that

they can get wet through with impunity. India is just

the very last place where this can be done harmlessly.

Wet clothes ought never to be kept on a minute longer

than is unavoidable ; and the more closely this is acted

upon the smaller will be the chance of fever. But in

spite of all personal efforts, sickness is certain to attack,

because of the malarious condition of the country. It

is of no use thinking that careful living, exercise, and

so on, will permanently ward oflf fever. I very readily

admit that sickness is often brought on by carelessness

when it could have been averted easily ; but it wiU un-

avoidably come at some time or other. Tea-district

fever is particularly depressing in its effects, and one of

the nastiest kinds of ailments that can be imagined.

When an attack of ague has merged into fever, and the

fever has passed off, there is an " all-gone " feeling that

is quite indescribable. There is probably no pain (or

if any, a head-ache), yet you feel completely unstrung.

You wish to go out, yet want to stay in;you fancy some-

thing to eat that you might possibly obtain in Calcutta

(merely a few hundred miles off);you feel empty and

hungry, yet have an aversion to eating; you do not like

INDIA AND TKA-PLANlEES. 79

sitting down, yet know you are too weak to stand up

long ; if you want to read, your eyes wander over the

paper ; and then you want to sleep but cannot, or,

perhaps, doing so eventually, you suddenly wake up to

find a confederacy of mosquitoes thirsting for your gore

and commencing operations on your nose, while their

outpost guards almost make you use wicked swear-words,

as they hum their infernal melodies into your unwilling

ears. These are merely the after effects, when the trying

part has left you. Such, indeed, was my experience

;

but, perhaps, the tormenting mosquito is less lively now

;

that is, if anyone has gained the reward offered some

time since by a Calcutta paper to anyone who would

advance a successful theory as to how to make out-door

life attractive to the mosquito. Then, perhaps, when

you fancy you are getting over the fever nicely, you

will have a return of it, and go through all the same

wretchedness again. An American journal, in describing

the fever and ague of a malarious district, gives the tes-

timony of a physician in New York city concerning it :

—

" It comes creeping up a fellow's back like a ton of

wild cats, goes crawling through his joints like iron

spikes, and is followed by a fever which prevents the

patient from thinking of anything save ' Greenland's

icy mountains.' It isn't the novr-and-again kind, but

gets up with a feUow at daylight, and sleeps in the small

of his back at night. His teeth feel about six inches

long, his joints wobble like a loose waggon-wheel, and

the shakes are so steady that he cannot hold a conver-

sation except by putting in dashes. Then, perhaps, he


gets better, and goes on making his fortune ; then he

gets worse, and goes on digging his grave ; or, perhaps,

he pulls through with only four diseases, no teeth, and a

bald head, and returns to his native with a pile, and a

disposition that only wants to be left alone. And his

dear friends are very soon glad enough to leave him

alone ; for when they are drinking slings and cobblers,

old Dollar Yellow-skin wants to sit by the fire ; and

when it is real cold and other people want a share of

the warmth, old Shake-and-Eattle grumbles and wraps

himself in blankets as hot as his hereafter, and thinks

of the balmy days when he only had the ague."

I should imagine that American malarious fever is of

a more violent kind than the Indian ; but the latter is

bad enough, goodness knows !

In addition to this certain sickness, the long hours,

the heat, and the really hard work unceasingly, there

is a total absence of any social set-off against them.

When work is done, as a rule (excepting in the cold

weather), there is nothing to do save to have dinner and

go to bed. The nature of the climate is exhausting,

there is no one to speak to, the mosquitoes prevent your

reading in peace, the night-air is unwholesome, and

venturing out of doors is risky, so there is nothing to

do but to turn under the mosquito curtain. Perhaps a

little reading may be managed then, but more probably

sleep intervenes. Then, after a night of uncertain rest,

the bearer arouses the sleeper by bringing a cup of tea,

and probably before 5 o'clock another day is begun.

When a year has been passed through and the order of

INDIA AND TEA PLANTEES. 81

garden work is known, there is very little variation in

the duties or in the life of the tea -planter. In all pro-

bability he made up his mind, in leaving home, to " rough

it "—believing that doing so meant living in a rough

house, devoid of any home comfort. But he will find

that, in the tea districts, " roughing it " generally

applies more to the mental than to the physical or

material side of life. A man may be by inclination a

veritable bon vivaiit, and yet settle down to a very plain

diet without often complaining. But the isolation and

dreariness that make up the life of the tea-planter, are

far harder to bear than the absence of the creature com-

forts to which he may have been accustomed. Planters

will get into the way of depending upon their work

exclusively for occupation day after day, and the result

will be that occasionally they will wake up, as it were,

to the mental barrenness of their lives, and feel that

they are living an unvarying existence rather than a pro-

gressive one—a life in which the work of each day will

be monotonously like that of the preceding one, and the

work of each year just the same as in the one that has

passed. Redit labor actus in orbem. Men will become

excellent tea-planters, but otherwise be rusting in know-

ledge. In brief glimpses at English papers, they will

see the introduction of new theories into social meta-

physics, new agents in domestic economy, and new

organisations of the economy of politics ; but all these

things will be far removed from life in the tea districts.

Leisure will be passed in the superficial reading of a

Calcutta daily paper, perhaps a little gardening, possibly

6


a small amount of botanical application and attention to

the indigenous /?ora around one, occasional strolls with

a gun, or rides on an elephant, on the chance of a little

sport, and so on, year after year ; the planter perhaps

saving money as a recompence for his curtailed happi-

ness, or perhaps not. There -will be times when, glancing

at the paper in bed, something will set his mind on

home ; or perhaps his English letters will do so ; and

he will wonder to himself how it is that the glitter that

surrounded Indian life, while he was yet in England,

has so completely worn off. He will think of his

friends, who are marrying and advancing in life, and

ably filling social positions which have no parallel in

the Indian tea districts. He will laok the future in

the face ; and thinking that until he is able to go home

his life will go on in the uneventful lines that have

now become so familiar to him, will almost envy people

who leave England for America or the Colonies, where

they find a white population and English institutions.

But, fortunately, the gong on the following morning,

will put all such thoughts as these out of his head, if

he be a sensible man. Perhaps it may happen that he

spends a night with a friend ; and if the two are nearly

of an age and have been in the country about the same

time, in staying up after dinner to chat as is customary

when one is not alone (particularly if the day be Sunday),

they will very likely begin to talk about Sunday at

home, give some of their recollections of certain Sab-

baths, and gradually glide into talking of the present

order of things, and comparing it with that of the past.


And possibly—as I have known it to be—the con-

versation turns on churches and chapels ; anecdotes are

told respecting them, and by degrees favourite chants

and tunes are hummed, and perhaps at last even part

of the evening Church service, or a hymn is sung

through. And the feeling that accompanies this retro-

spect of the blessings of home, differs vastly from that

which some time before had led to the observation, "Iwouldn't go home if I could." Very strange do these

recollections make one feel on saying " good night " to

one's friend, and turning into bed. Young fellows at

such times are only absent sons and brothers ; they -are

Indian tea-planters when they begin work next morning.

The opinion of one planter at such times as these, I

know to have been that when the anticipated glitter and

glamour of the residence in India had quite -worn off,

there was absolutely no real recompence whatever for

leaving home; a "free and easy life," or even money

banked, notwithstanding.

I write thus, so that young fellows who want to go to

India may examine themselves and see whether they are

strong and determined enough, not in body merely, but

in the under-currents of their nature, to exchange home

for a salary, and to live a life in which there can be no

home, as English people interpret the word. The quiet

talks of the old country as given above, I admit, are very

rare, and occur generally when young fellows have been

out not more than two or three years. Likely enough

the same men afterwards meet frequently, without again

getting into the same channel of conversation. Then

6 •


there are many men—well suited to be tea-planters

—who, I believe, do never think or feel in the way de-

scribed. I have said that these unpleasant retrospective

views generally occur only after a short residence in

India. Men who regret leaving home see that they

have entered upon an unsatisfactory course, and must

pursue it, there being no other course open. They

accordingly cover up the past. What is it that George

EHot says, with such wonderful truth, regarding the

sudden ending of a joyous anticipation ? " Hope closed

its wings, and became remorse." But while some men

bury the past because thinking of it is useless, others

adopt the opposite extreme, which is equally undesirable

—they occupy the present in anticipating the future,

when they will be at home. I believe thinking some-

times of returning home does a man good ; but thinking

of little else is very harmful ; and as it necessarily

takes away energy that should be given to work, vir-

tually results in a moral breach of contract, inasmuch

as undivided attention is not given to employers' in-

terests. At the same time, these day-dreaming assistants

would not like to be told they are breaking faith—pos-

sibly they do not know it. These are the men whom, in

previous pages, I particularly cautioned against going

to India—quiet, reading men who are fond of home,

and averse to out-door occupations. They are occa-

sionally to be found on tea estates, and constitute the

greatest trouble a manager can have. They are far

worse than uncertain-tempered assistants, who can

work, but will not ; for these unsuitable individuals


are most anxious to work, but cannot ; they mayhave capital abilities, but are unable to apply them

to tea-planting. Managers talk kindly to them, write

stern official letters, "good fellow" them, and threaten

to report alternately, but it is of no use ; the assis-

tant is as anxious to gi-ye satisfaction as the manager

is willing to be easily satisfied, and yet the work is

not done. The assistant tells himself that it is an

extraordinary thing—'he knows he has a pretty clear

idea of his duties, but sees no beauty in them ; the

manager knows well enough that the assistant under-

stands his work, but does not do it, although at all times he

is professedly most anxious to do so. The cause is very

simple—total unfitness. A man who is well suited for

writing letters and posting ledgers, is generally altogether

out of his element in standing over gangs of coolies

hoeing ground day after day, and month after month.

He is really anxious to understand his work, but as soon

as this is accomplished he tires of it ; he lacks application

for the work which is foreign to his capacity. As he walks

amongst natives hoeing, he is likely enough thinking of

things or people in England ; and the coolies may slash

right into the lateral roots of the bushes, and actually

not be noticed.

When the novelty of their work has passed by,

men who thus join tea estates occupy their time

by planning for the future, and are of scarcely any

use in the present. I have seen them—young fellows

who are uncommonly brisk, when (presumably) super-

vising coolies, in getting on to the road if they see


a Sahib approaching, so as to have a chat—who often

enough have the theory of tea-planting at their fingers'

ends, are fairly good linguists, and so on, but who are

no more fitted to be tea-planters than they are to be

soldiers, and who will never be practical planters, let

their stay in India be as long as it may. They dream

away their time out of doors, and plan it away indoors

;

suffer from frequent attacks of ennui—or what would,

perhaps, be better described by the well-nigh obsolete

Saxon word " wanhope "—and virtually lose the present

in anticipating the future—anticipating it in a way that

will never be realised, because life is earnest and real,

and has no prizes for dreamers.

At the same time, practical men will find many

opportunities for escaping from mental stagnation and

profitless despondency in the acquisition of amusing,

edifying, or valuable knowledge. Very much that is

interesting and instructive is to be learnt regarding the

respective customs, religions, castes, legends, and pro-

verbs of the Hindus and Mahommedans, together with

something of their national history. A knowledge of

these matters would often tend to the better manage-

ment of coolies, would occupy the planter's thoughts,

which are too often solely upon work, and enable

him, when visiting home, to give people some ideas

for which they always look, and of which they generally

have some knowledge, as to the inner Hfe of natives, and

the vast difference between the two great factions. Then,

perhaps, when planters come home, they will like the

writer rush into print with what they have learned in India.

INDIA AlStD TEA-PLANTERS. 87

The redeeming feature of life in Assam and Cachar is

the cold weather, which is thoroughly enjoyable. The

days generally are bright and fairly warm, but the nights

and mornings are chilly, fires are going in the bunga-

lows, warm clothes are brought out of seclusion, mos-

quitoes go to Calcutta, work begins later and ends earlier,

blankets are wanted on the beds, and dinner is served

sooner to give a good long evening. And whereas in

the rains the dinner-table is occupied by a thousand and

one gems, in the shape of all the flying insects which are

peculiar to "India's coral strand," and which are attracted

by the lamps, in the cold weather one is able to see the

design of the damask, and the soup is not a joint-stock

concern, in which locusts and Norfolk Howards, and

aerially-inclined beetles of a sable hue, have the chief

interest. Shooting-parties are sometimes organised, and

a few days of camping done ; or card-parties are arranged

for friendly games, where planters live near together.

Work is much more varied than in the rains, gardens

are pruned, and, of course, manufacturing ceases ; horses

are rested, as walking is delightful ; English vegetables

are planted and brought to perfection ; and planters sit

down to breakfast and dinner, after walking all the

morning or afternoon, with a great appetite for solid

food, and not exactly an aversion to the regular quantum

of Bass's tincture. Men pull themselves together in

health and spirits, and the cosy evenings seem more

like home than in the trying months of the rainy season.

Good health makes men cheerful, and when men are

cheerful they are generally hopeful, and when men are


hopeful, no country can be altogether bad, but must

certainly suit some of them—as, indeed, it may safely be

said, the tea districts, taken altogether, do well suit many

men.

89

CHAPTER V.

THE PLANTER ON LEAVE.

Apteb the many unpleasantnesses and vicissitudes

here recorded, the planter, possessed of hard-earned

savings, and probably of the too easily obtained fever,

ague, spleen, or liver complaint, finds himself at

his leave-time. In Assam, he hies to the nearest

steamer station, and takes the first vessel for Goalundo;

in Cachar, he probably hires a " green " or a country

boat, lays in a stock of provisions and tobacco, and

makes a start for the same place. The enjoyment of

his rest can only be understood by those who v?ork as

hard as tea-planters have to work, year after year. Our

traveller on the Assam steamer probably meets a few

other planters also going home, together with one or

two going to Calcutta for a change, and also, even more

probably, with several taking a short river-trip to recover

from the after-effects of a bad go of fever. Howpleasant is life to the traveller on the Brahmapootra

steamers ! how very enjoyable to a man who has been


hard at work for years, and is now resting on his home-

ward way ! The cuisine is far superior to anything he

has had in his jungly quarters, and he can obtain tonic

and soda-waters. Instead of passing weeks together in

the company of himself, he has pleasant intercourse

all day long with planters from different parts of the

province ; and, if he be sick, as he is exceedingly

likely to be if going home, he will, as a general rule,

have, as the writer had, every possible care and atten-

tion, and almost womanly sympathy, from the skipper

of the steamer. There is not much to do, except to kill

time ; no young fellows to chat with about the outward

trip, as is often the case in going up the river ; so the

time passes in gapping with passengers from other parts

of the province, and hearing of men met long times

before. It is surprising how tea-planters who have once

met remain au courant as to each other's movements

through a long period of time in which they do not

meet.

So the steamer trip passes pleasantly. The planter

will have seen too much of village life to care to run

ashore at the different stations, excepting, possibly,

when one is reached at sunset, and then a short stroll

is taken " Hdwd hhan'na ho." Very possibly some

delay occurs at Serajganj and Kalliganj ; and the

difficulty of waiting patiently while an unlimited quantity

of jute is shipped, can best be understood by those who,

after years of absence, are returning home, and thus find

themselves delayed by a mass of produce, which lacks

even the interest of estate marks, as in the case of tea.

THE PLANTBE ON LEAVE. 91

But eventually Goalundo is reached, and baggage is

removed to the station. How very strange it seems to

the. planter to be thus in civilisation again, after a long

residence in the upper wilderness ! How the whistles

of the engines jar upon his sense of hearing, and yet

seem almost melodious in the knowledge they impart of

the entrance to civilised life, and the "way home!"One's voice sounds almost strange in asking for a railway

ticket, and one certainly feels strange in the moving of a

railway train—at least, such was the experience of the

writer. For years past all locomotion would have been

under the planter's own governance—horse, elephant,

boat, or buggy—and progress or stoppage in his own

hands, and his safety dependent upon himself. But

now, as the engine puffs, and the whistle screams, he

feels himself being carried away irresistibly, and there is

almost a slight feeling of uneasiness at his inability to

control his own movements. The Sealdah station is

reached at length, and a gharry taken to probably the

Great Eastern Hotel. Here, even more than at Goalundo,

the re-entrance into civilisation is striking. Of late

years all the animation about him would have been the

outcome of the planter's own orders. He has known

what ought to be the work of almost every man he has

met, and he has been treated with consideration and

respect. But here, in the (so-called) City of Palaces, to

begin with, no one presumably knows him, no one

cares who he is, and people pass him in total indifference.

To express matters mildly, the planter feels strange. It

may perhaps be remarked that he will possibly likewise


feel strange, when he finds himself sitting in one of the

cool refreshment-rooms of the G-reat Eastern Hotel,

drinking iced—well, Soda-water, or eating an ice for the

first time for years. (Yery likely he remembers that on

arriving in Calcutta before, he had not ordered iced

Soda-water.) There are very few tea-planters who

have anything but kind words to say of Calcutta.

Our newly-arrived planter makes his way to the office

of his garden agents, by whom he is sure to be received

most kindly, and from whom all information as to

London steamers, &c. can be obtained, I think I had

better pass through this stay in Calcutta ; it is generally

a whirl of excitement—buying things, dining with

friends, going to the steamers, and so on—writing letters

or reading books being irritating in the monotony of the

exercise involved.

At length the steamer chosen makes a start, and after

passing through the broad expanse of the river Hooghly,

gets out to sea. Ah ! the glorious, bright, blue, water !

How often, when tossing on his bed in the furnace of

fever, has the remembrance of the outward trip returned

to an invalid's imagination ; and more lately, in his con-

valescence, he has felt that all he needed to give him a

full return of strength was a good blow on the ocean.

And now, when he is again on the sea, how exhilarating is

the effect. He forgets to remember the unpleasantnesses

of jungle life; in the first rush of joyous realisation he

thinks of nothing but the pleasant fact that there he is

at last, with his back to India and his face toward home;

that he is inhaling ozone which will build up a new man

THE PLANTER ON LEAVE. 93

in him, and give an appetite that will make quinine

insignificant. But as it is desirable that this description

should be as exact as possible, it may be well to leave

the planter here for a short season : because it is not

unlikely, that by the time he has fully realised the

beauties of the far-stretching ocean, he may consider it

a discreet act to investigate the beauties of his cabin

;

and prompted by unspoken intimation of internal dis-

quietude, he retires thereto, to meet, as calmly as may

be, the preliminary demonstration of preparation for

acquiring the good appetite before mentioned. Or, in

plainer parlance, he goes to his berth, the victim of an

irresistible inclination to throw himself away.

We will now suppose that he has conquered this tern-'

porary indisposition, and is beginning to feel a new man.

How enjoyable the sea voyage is ! Pleasant society,

good food and a relish for it, no anxiety, no work, very

possibly musical evenings, and, better than all things

else, the knowledge that he is on his homeward way

—

these things will tend to make the voyage indescribably

delightful to the planter. Particularly vs^ill the evenings

be pleasant, quiet, and delicious, and^without mosquitoes.

It will surely be going not wide of the mark to say that

in some of these periods the planter will sit on deck in

a long cane chair, and indulge in a reverie and a com-

munion with himself. He will think of the home to

which he is returning, and how he left it— a lad,

perhaps, with (what have since proved to have been)

extravagant notions as to the glory of life in India;

returning home after years of rough isolation, of con-


stant peril to health and life, years in which he has lived

a life wild in its surroundings and lonely to himself

—

returning to a home, which by reason of long absence

and an intimacy of correspondence only, has become

almost a myth to him. And he will think of those good

fellows, his brother planters, still on their estates, trying

to sleep in the oppressive atmosphere, and worried by

mosquitoes ; of the possible amount of tea made to date,

and as to how his successor is getting on, and treating

certain sections of the garden, regarding which particular

advice was given. He will think very hkely of the

manhood that has come to him in his years of absence,

of how parents, and brothers, and sisters are counting

the days to his expected arrival ; and without saying so,

he tells himself that fever and ague, and curry, and rice,

and coolies, and estimates, and jungly burra-hhannahs,

and mosquitoes, and bddjdt syces, are abandoned for a

time, and that after hearing from it, and writing to it,

and thinking and dreaming about it for years, he is

returning home. And, unless my conception of humannature is very erroneous, there will come into a man's

heart—no matter how little he may have thought on the

subject in bygone years— a feeling of exultation that he

has not left his bones in India, and a keener, deeper one

of thankfulness, that his Hfe has been spared. It is of

no use to jeer at the fever of the tea districts ; and,

strange to say, least of all may strong men despise it

;

therefore continued preservation from its fatality gives to

all men a cause for gratitude and thankfulness. Perhaps

to some who have knocked about the world, and finally

THE PLANTEB ON LEAVE. 96

wound up in India, this may seem an overdrawn picture;

but it is a true one as regards those who only left home

to go to India and have not travelled elsewhere. There

is a soft place in the heart of every man for his nativity

;

and harsh and rough, and lacking all social and domestic

softness and gentleness as a planter's life invariably does,

there is sure to come to him on this, his homeward

way, a recollection of what his home and kindred were,

the knowledge of what he is, and a speculation as to

what those he left behind him will prove to be.

Returning home ! The process of returning is plea-

sant enough, but what is his reception on reaching his

destination ? Something far surpassing all that was

imagined ! The planter's position on his factory as

Buna Sahib will have been insignificant as compared

with what he will be considered in his own family-circle.

Everyone will suppose that, coming from India, he has

plenty of money ; everyone will ask, even in the hottest

days, whether " India isn't ever so much hotter than

this ? " and the need of maintaining the lionism of the

moment as a marvel and a salamander, will suggest his

answer without my giving it here. But I may as well

say plainly, that some of the English summer days will

try the planter more than regular roasters in the Assam

rainy season. The cause is the clothing. I might

follow up the inquiries of the London press, and ask

how is it that English people will persist in retaining

here the very worst kind of dress for hot weather. The

planter at home will feel the heat most in his head,

at his neck, and in the small of his back ; and I


really believe I may say that in these places he will feel

the action of the sun more acutely than persons who

have never left England. He will have been used to

riding in India, but at home will do a much larger

amount of walking than he has been accustomed to

;

his bodily temperature will be increased thereby, and he

will feel it more than do permanent residents. Yet the

English summer heat does not continue as does that of

India. There may be hot weather for a few days, but

not for seven or eight months ; neither are there the

awful niglits of the Bengal tea districts, which, by their

heavy atmosphere, are far worse to bear than the days.

Three or four hot days in England generally result in a

thunderstorm, which cools everything for a time. The

planter home on leave will need to be careful of himself.

He can stand a fair spell of hot weather, but the sudden

fall of temperature common in England will try him

sorely. A hot day is frequently followed by a positively

chilly night, and an Anglo-Indian is liable easily to catch

a bad cold in the hottest summer weather.

In most respects, England is very enjoyable to the

planter on reaching home at first. Reunion with his

relatives, of course, is pleasant beyond description.

Then it seems, particularly in London, that surprising

value can be obtained for money, compared with Indian

rates, and numerous things that are of no use are con-

sequently bought, because they are cheap. But there

is a questionably pleasant side to English life. The

planter misses his bearer, for one thing ; and great as is

supposed to be the bane of European life in India on

The plantbe on leave. 97

the score of servants, in many respects Anglo-Indians

would prefer the Eastern order of things to that of

home. The amount of dressing which is necessary,

although perfectly reasonable, is irksome to a man whohas been used for years to dress strictly for comfort ; and

kid gloves become invalided with amazing rapidity on

the hands of a jungly-wallah. There are many things,

too, beyond personal likes, which are not palatable to

persons from India. It seems strange to be waited on

by people of one's own colour ; and the scenes of street-

rowdyism, the wholesale massacre of the Queen's Eng-

lish, the unmistakable evidence of terrible poverty in

some districts, and, not least of all, the objectionable

attendance of the street vendors of various articles—all

these things will be very unsightly to the planter, and

almost painful in the misery they indicate. Nothing

of the kind has met his sight for years; everyone of

his own colour has been looked up to, and to the general

(native) public there has been no sign of distressing

poverty, even on the part of the lowest-paid assistants.

It will be an odd thing if our planter is not appealed to

for testimony of the awful depravity of the mild Hindoo,

and the success of missionary work ; but it will be even

more odd if, to the manifest disappointment of his in-

quirers, he does not unhesitatingly express his belief

that charity ought to begin at home, and his conviction

that he has never witnessed such scenes of helpless,

ground-down, awful poverty, even in the Indian bazaars,

as he does amongst his own countrymen in the metro-

pohs of the world. When the single fact of being white

7


has for years been a sufficient introduction to the home

of any planter, it will be with a feehng of a keener edge

than dislike that eyidences of social misery are seen.

People who have never been out of England talk about

the prestige of the white man ; but I think the peculiari-

ties of life in the tea districts enable planters to speak

upon this subject with much deeper feeling. The scenes

are so common to the resident Englishman that they are

passed almost unnoticed ; but they jar most unpleasantly

and painfully upon a man who has been absent for years,

and who has seen no indication of want on the part of

his countrymen.

There will be found changes in one's home-circle on

reaching England that will make the planter ask himself

whether he did wisely in selecting India as the field of

his labour. Very likely he will have remembered his

younger brothers as little fellows only, all through his

absence : he will reach home to find them grown up and

holding definite social positions. Many of his former

friends he will find married, and having homes that will

make him think rather unkindly about his cutchd erection

of sixty feet by forty, built east and west. He will find

his brothers and friends ahead of him in many things;

possibly students of various scientific subjects in their

leisure time, members of literary associations and dis-

cussion classes, and, in their own circles, prominent

characters. Into such intellectual cliques, it may be

almost safely asserted, the planter will not feel himself

qualified to enter. He can speak fluently one or two

Indian languages, he thoroughly understands the culture

THE PLANTER ON LBAYE. 99

and manufacture of tea, has a slight knowledge of agri-

cultural chemistry, can ride well, is ingenious at pic-nic

parties, is open-handed and open-hearted, and has

money put by ; but his life for several years has led him

far from scientific or generally intellectual channels, and

he has had no time for studying matters not connected

with tea. He can make good roads in jungly wastes,

but has not learnt much geology in the tea districts.

He can give you a fairly accurate delineation of the

Hindoo or Mahomedan character, but not in phreno-

logical phraseology ; and he can make large substantial

bridges, but very likely does not know the respective

specific gravities of wood and iron. No ; his life is

necessarily practical rather than theoretical. He can

give a reason for doing whatever he does on his factory,

but for the thoughtful study of subjects not germane to

tea he has had no time.

But whilst many of the social phases of English life

may seem very desirable—as indeed they are—and whilst

also, they may make the planter think his jungle life to

be sadly wanting in social and intellectual advancement,

he will be almost sure to think that in the matter of

occupation he has decidedly the advantage of men in

England who are not their own masters, and even of

many who are. However willing he may be to uphold

the maxim " Labor ipse voluptas," it will be difficult

sometimes not to think that in England, compared with

the custom in the Indian tea districts, it is very servile.

He will find that many years of service with a firm give

an employe, in most cases, no license as to attendance;

7 *


and wet or fine, in summer or winter, 9.30 or

10 o'clock A.M. has to see even a highly-paid assistant

either at his post or failing in his duty. In itself there

is, of course, nothing far-fetched in this ; only it is so

entirely different from the order of things which obtains

in a planter's life. Tbking work for work, the Indian

hours are far longer, and the work much harder, than in

England ; but in the former case even the youngest assis-

tant is not bound to his work by a few minutes. Besides

which, notwithstanding the many social advantages and

the comforts of life in England, it will need but little per-

ception to see that where there is an absence of capital

or influential friends, a young man in England is likely

to be the servant of others all his life through. In the

Government service, of course, he may look to receive a

pension after many years of work ; but in commercial

centres, and in London business generally, whilst he has

a chance of an eventual partnership, he has a far

greater one of being a servant always. He may be able

to save and invest money advantageously, and thereby

obtain an independency ; or he may save money as long

as he earns it, and even then not have saved much at

the end. I think there can be no doubt that where

two young fellows start on an equahty, one in England

and the other in the Indian tea districts, given that they

are of an equal mental calibre, and neither possessed of

money or influence, that the Indian one stands an infi-

nitely better chance of success, in a greater measure and

at an earlier date, than the one who remains in England.

But then he takes the chance at the risk of his life, or

THE PLANTER ON LEAVE. 101

of the possibly permanent detriment of his health should

his life be spared ; and he accepts the prospect—or, I

should say, the certainty—of years of an undesirable

life, in the hope that the after ones may prove them to

have been worth the sacrifice. It is altogether impos-

sible to say which of the two is the wiser. If the Indian

one comes home with a good income, the remaining one

—not knowing the kind of life the other has had to put

up with for years—may think he is the worst off, work-

ing still, and in all probability being likely to work,

until he can no longer do so. But there would have

been times when the now successful planter would have

thought of and envied the home-peace in a healthy

climate enjoyed by the other—home-peace and health,

for which money and success seemed no recompence.

And thus the matter stands: neither case can be pro-

nounced the best or worst.

I have mentioned the signs of individual poverty,

which at first will seem strange and unpleasant. Let

me not forget the converse. The evidences of wealth

—

and the social status which invariably results therefrom

—will act stimulatively on the planter, and make him

hopeful for the future. He will probably meet men who

have made Indian residence pay, and others who have

made tea pay ; and he will be willing to work on, striving

and hoping for a like result to his labour. I have

elsewhere shown the chance he has of making a position

for himself. The trip to England, provided he recovers,

or is in good health, on the working side of the ques-

tion, causes him to prefer his Indian life to that led by

102 THE TEA INDTJSTET IN INDIA.

men in England. And after some months of rest, he

begins to wish to be back again. His life has been a

very active one, and masterly inactivity does not suit him

;

and the activity consequent upon visiting friends, exhibi-

tions, and museums, is not congenial to him after a few

months. He has probably become tired of hansom cabs,

and wants his horse as a regular sequel to breakfast. Hehas begun to question the one-sided pleasure of spending

money and earning none, and so resolves to get into

harness again. Putting from his mind—as far as is

possible—the parting " good-bye " which he knows must

come, he tells himself that the sooner he recommences

to nourish his system largely upon curry and rice, the

better for him (financially). So he lays in an outfit

which is useful, and not largely ornamental, as was pro-

bably the case when he left home before, takes his passage

on a steamer possessing comforts which ocean-travelling

has taught him are desirable, gets through the "good-

bye " from home, and turns his face again toward India,

mentally and physically able and willing once more to

take up the lesson of life, vigorously and cheerfully.

103

CHAPTER YI.

THE FINANCIAL ASPECT OP PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL.

The present position of the tea industry is such as to

lead me to hope that the following observations may be

of some use. I was almost tempted to head this chapter

" De Omnibus rebus," as correctly indicating it, but

thought the heading given would, while being applicable,

receive more attention. If the remarks seem somewhat

disjointed, I would say that the number of points to be

noticed renders this almost unavoidable.

Representatives of several old concerns have of late

been expressing themselves as very anxious at the

falling off in price and quality of their teas ; and the

professional reply given to comfort them has been that

their teas are quite as good as those of other concerns

with which they have ranked for years. This, it is

needless to say, is perfectly correct ; but the fact that

one weakening article is not weaker than others in a

similar plight is no explanation of the mischief, nor a

particularly satisfactory solution of the unpleasant state


of affairs. There can be no cloubt that, of the concerns

which stood highest in the market some years ago,

several have fallen altogether into the background, and

comparatively new marks have taken the lead in high

prices. There has been found to be deterioration in

strength and flavour in the teas of favourite marks, and

the matter is undoubtedly a very serious one. I shaU

be inviting a torrent of disclaimers from some quarters,

when I say that this falling off is caused by the gradual

exhaustion of the soil, which has been steadily drawn

upon for years without any recuperative aid being given

in manure, or in dressing of any kind. Writing on the

subject of manure in Tea in Assam, I expressed mybelief that high cultivation of good soil rendered manure

unnecessary, even if not undesirable. The Indian Tea

Gazette, in reviewing my work, disagreed with me alto-

gether on this point. I myself think differently now on

the subject from what I did when previously writing

;

yet I would say that my then way of thinking was the

result of my training, and my behef the very general one

held in Assam. Further experience in India, however,

and the most manifest deterioration in quality of well-

known teas offered for sale in London, have led me to

submit this question to two different scientific agricul-

turists—one of the Cirencester College—and the result

of my representation seems to me to be so important,

that I risk the wholesale disagreement which will ensue,

by stating plainly what I am told must be the sequel.

There is really no cause whatever for surprise that old

gardens should be sending home inferior teas, seeing

FINANCIAL ASPECT OP PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. 105

that some of them have been drawing on the soil for

more than a quarter of a century without ever returning

any nourishment to it, excepting a few scattered prunings,

year after year. Tea-growing at the best may be said

to be a system of scourging crops, which is quite

contrary to the principles of good agriculture. It is

not to be expected that even the most fertile land can

continue, unaided, to give sustenance to vigorous bushes

from which leaf is plucked for eight months annually,

and in such a way as to bring out more leaf and draw

more plant-food from the soil. Cultivated land in

England is relieved by a variety of crops, each of which

to a certain extent rests the soil as far as can be, in

respect to the properties drawn upon by the previous one.

This system of rotation crops is followed out as much

as possible ; although perhaps some farmers have but a

vague notion of the principle while carrying out the

practice. There is no relief of this kind for tea-land.

Year after year the fertility has been taxed, and now

the owners are beginning to be troubled by the dis-

covery that the produce is weaker and of less value,

that the reputation of their teas is falling in the

market, and that other concerns of a comparatively

recent existence are coming into notice. No wonder

!

It would be an odd thing indeed if land could for

ever go on producing valuable tea. Produce tea it

might, just as it would grass and jungle, and as

neglected fruit-trees produce fruit—but which is hardly

worth eating—and the leaf coming from impoverished

land, while being undoubtedly tea, would lack the


essential qualities to make it marketable. The more care-

fully the matter is thought upon, the more extraordinary-

it seems that planters and owners should have gone on

all this time in the apparent belief that the soil would

never become bankrupt. More particularly does this

apply to Assam, where oftentimes men appear to be

quite aggrieved if the possibility of the soil becoming

impoverished is mooted. " Oh, no ! They manure in

Chittagong and the Kangra Valley, and other districts,

where the soil is poorer—we do not require it in

Assam." Just so ; and the obvious result is that

"Chittagong, Kangra, and other districts" are getting

better prices for their teas. There is nothing in atmo-

spheric action to generate or develop from the component

parts of the soil sufficient suitable food for plant-life,

and the production of tea-leaf, when once the necessary

elements are exhausted. The capability of the soil

for grovping leaf was at its greatest when the first

planting began ; and all operations since have drawn

upon this supply, until there is in many cases but a very

little of it remaining. In the meanwhile, other gardens

starting in virgin land, with a full capital of fertility,

have brought their first fruits into the markets, and

coming from new soil of course have obtained higher

prices. It has been remarked to me as strange, that the

old concerns seem to suffer more than the new ones

;

but it would have been far stranger if they did not.

And when I have said—to people who had the best

possible reason for hoping it was not the case— that the

land, having been regularly worked out, was nearly used

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PBODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. 107

up, they refused to admit this on any grounds, saying

that the weather had been unfavourable, money scarce,

or bhght prevalent. A similar falling off was recently

noticed by the London press in the tobacco lands of

Havana. They have been drawn on so constantly, and

given, if any, only a little manure, that now the lands

are exhausted. Land in Sumatra, after giving one crop

of tobacco is rested for four or five years. I am aware

that tobacco is of more drastic growth than tea, but the

same principle applies to both, in proportion. Whether

the theory advanced by Dr. Schrottky as to the causes

of red-spider blight was right or not, I cannot say ; but

he is borne out by scientific testimony in his verdict that

the result of growing tea for years without manure

is that the soil must become exhausted, and its pro-

duce almost valueless. In an early number of the Indian

Tea Gazette, he wrote with perfect truth :

" The greater portion of the tea consumed in, and

sent out of, India for the last fifteen or twenty years,

—

has it not been grown without a particle of manure ? has

not the soil of the majority of tea-gardens year after

year been deprived of its mineral plant-food, which, in

the very best soil, seldom exceeds ten per cent, of the

whole ? And can anyone be surprised now to find the

plants getting every year weaker and weaker . . . . ?

Do the shareholders in tea companies, happily deluded

by the receipt of large dividends, know that these

dividends represent a portion of the capital of the con-

cern, and that they do not represent the real interest ?

Do they know that shares, the real value of which is

Ofi THE TEA INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

Rs. 100 to-day, must next year be worth a definite

amount less, paid away in dividends ?—for do they not

sell, in every maund of tea, a portion of their garden ?

(I speak, of course, only of companies which grow their

tea either entirely without manuring, or manure only

partially and inadequately,)"

If this is not the cause of the deterioration that un-

questionably has been observed, it would be eminently

satisfactory to know what is. A period of drought, or

a visitation of blight, does not decrease the average price

of tea per pound year by year, and afiect old gardens

more than young ones. Planters at the present time,

are, at the very least, quite as capable as they were years

ago ; so this falling off in quality cannot be attributed to

lax supervision. Certainly, there have been seasons of

commercial depression, in which money has seemed to

be ruinously scarce : but I have trade testimony to the

effect that, while admitting this, such teas as realised

high prices in the market ten or fifteen years ago, do

not now arrive from the then flourishuig gardens.

It is contrary to all rational principles of maintenance

to suppose that land can continue to be fertile for an

indefinite number of years, in the total absence of any

restorative agency whatever. Look where we will, we

see in things necessary to our use the need of supplying

decreased force, or, where doing so is out of our power,

compulsory abandonment. Farm- lands, orchards, and

even conservatories, require stimulants for their soils to

maintain their vigour, just as men and animals need

food to retain theirs. We have it on the authority of

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PEODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. 109

Linnaeus that minerals grow; and the exhaustion of

mines is merely man's complete stoppage of the growth

of nature by using up whatever Nature has stored.

Diamonds will continue to grow where Nature has com-

menced the process, until man opens the earth and

interferes with the development—then Nature will stop.

What is sometimes advanced as being the self-generative

principle in the fertility of soils is nowise in the same

ratio as the exhaustion which goes on in tea-production.

If complete impoverishment of tea soils did not eventually

result from years of.unrequited calls upon their fertility,

Nature would reveal an exception to her own rules, and

lower herself to the level of man's ingenuity.

This seems to me to be one cause of inferior tea.

Although impoverished soil of course ranks first, another

cause is to be found, in many instances, in inadequate

pruning. I remember standing by a planter who was

supervising his pruning on a Central Assam garden,

and when remarking on the great size of the bushes,

and the gnarled wood, he replied, " To prune some of

these bushes properly, and as they require pruning, nearly

an hour with saw and knife would be necessary, and,

could it be given, the result would be magnificent." It

was impossible not to agree with him. I had and have

seen precisely the same thing in many instances, but

I know how useless it is, in most cases, to hope to

accomplish what is known to be necessary. Whenlabour is limited, pruning is sometimes done by giving

each cooly a number of bushes ; and the result is to be

imagined where gangs of people are at work in different


directions, for the manager can only be in one place at

a time. More often than not, levelling the top of a bush

and cutting out the twigs and wood made toward the

close of the season, is all that can be done. Extra-

ordinary results have been obtained by ample draining

and heavy pruning combined ; but planters cannot achieve

victories without labour.

The very elaborate attention that is often given to

tea-house details is frequently well-nigh useless, because

earlier stages of work do not give a basis for perfect

manufacturing arrangements to play on. It is not of

much use having scientific withering accommodation

when the leaf to be withered has been grown on used-up

soil, and lacks the essentials of good tea. In my previous

work I tried to show the importance of careful manufac-

ture ; but the subject I am now writing on compels meto say that good leaf—which can only be obtained from

well-nourished soil—is of primary importance in order

that manufacture may give a satisfactory result. Better

results would often be obtained if more coolies were on

the garden to effect improvements beyond hoeing, such

as cutting drains, terracing, removing shade, &c. Andthis brings me to a point which has to be noticed

—

namely, a way in which many people might be released

from the tea-house and put on outdoor work. I refer to

the labour requirements for sieving. If this phase of tea-

house work were abolished, many gardens would benefit

immensely. Planters follow each other in the practice

of sorting their teas into classes because it is the regular

custom, everyone doing it. But while I should be

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. Ill

extremely sorry to seek to upset any useful process in

vogue in tea-houses at the present time, I think I may

perhaps notice that of sieving, with possibly a good

result. Just for a moment, for the reason explained

at foot, I will refer to the present mode of working and

the sieves in use. I believe it is customary to use

No. 10 or 12 mesh for Pekoe. (I have known No. 8 to

be used, but only in two factories.) Now a Pekoe leaf

(manufactured tea) is of greater length than can possibly

pass through a space in the sieve used, when lying

lengthways. To get through the aperture at all the leaf

must be inverted ; in being inverted, more probably than

not the leaf is grated, the bloom lessened, and the leaf

snapped or broken at the end. This is surely very

undesirable, and the facts apply to Souchong at least

equally with Pekoe. The sieves generally in use on tea

factories would answer very well for some grains ; but

they are certainly not of the kind to allow long or wiry

leaves to fall through gently by their own weight and

size ; to pass through at all they must first get on

end,*

I fear I shall be surprising many planters in express-

ing my belief that it is an open question whether the

* This idea is not my own, but came up in the course of a

conversation, on sifting, with Mr. Haworth, the rolling-machine

inventor. I believe an improved sieve has been recently made for

tea-house use, but I have been unable to obtain particulars of it at

the time of going to press. Should any planters desire information

on the subject, I am sure it will be readily furnished by Mr. W.Haworth, 7, Lothbury, London, B.C.

112 The tea industBt in India.

sorting of teas is not a waste of labour and money.

The expense is considerable in itself, especially when bad

weather for withering, or inferior flushes at the close of

the season, cause the leaf to break in roUing. If the

cost of sieving were done away with, the item of itself

would be a considerable saving ; but in releasing hands

for profitable outdoor work it would proportionately be

even a greater one. I know that some gardens send

their crops home unsifted, and from the continuance

of the practice it may be supposed to answer. It is

common enough during the rains in Assam and Cachar

to see sections of gardens in jungle, flushes harden-

ing on the bushes, and dozens of people occupied in

sifting tea. What a different state of afi'airs might

be were sifting done away with, or even partly so. More

people would be on the garden, tea would not have to

remain over in several varieties for more of each kind to

be sorted before breaks could be packed. After manu-

facture it could be given a brisk final firing (if necessary)

and packed off, to its more effectual retention of strength

and aroma, I am sure. QuaUty would run pretty evenly,

too, because tea made during a spell of fine or un-

favourable weather would be packed at once and aU

together. A few more boxes would perhaps be required,

as unsorted tea occupies more space than that which

has been crushed through sieves ; but the reduced cost

of wear and tear in this latter article would counter-

balance the expense of the former. What is the prac-

tical utility of sorting teas ? Class names do not

determine the price ; it is common enough in the sale-

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PEODUGTION AND DISPOSAL. 113

rooms to see Pekoe of one estate sell for less than

Souchong from another. There can be no doubt that

Indian teas are principally used for mixing with

Chinese teas. Seeing, then, that the retailer makes

his own blends, and that the labour expended in Indian

tea-houses virtually goes for nothing (Pekoe, Souchong,

broken teas, dust, &c., being mixed up with one

or more kinds of China teas), it seems to me to be of

Yery questionable utility to send home teas sorted into

classes, when before they get into the consumer's tea-

pot their class-identity is destroyed. I have repre-

sented this matter to grocers in different parts of

England, and the general reply has been that much

trouble would be spared them, as they have to taste

many teas, and open several chests, to make up their

blends. Tea gets disfigured and broken about a great

deal in factory sorting, warehouse bulking, and final

blending by the retailer, and makes a quantity of small

tea, or dust, which is not remunerative to the dealer. I

think also that, if Indian tea stands any chance at all

of being drunk alone from original packages, it will

certainly be in this form : for while Pekoe would be too

rough, Souchong might be too smooth. Broken Pekoe

too rasping, and so on. But I have to refer to this

point further on.

The fact of having noticed this matter renders it

unnecessary for me to say that I believe it might be

followed up, at all events to some extent, particularly

as regai'ds the months when Assam and Cachar planters

are having their heaviest gatherings, and also making

8


their finest teas ; because the good growing weather

that brings out the leaves, brings up the jungle be-

tween the bushes, and the greatest pressure is often

experienced for out-door labour. I would say, in

passing from this point, that I am not endeavouring

to revolutionise present tea-house arrangements, be-

cause most sudden changes are detrimental ; but I

do think that unsorted teas might be sent home to a

much greater extent than they are, and with very

satisfactory results. Or, looking at the matter in a

most indifferent light, the plan is worth trying.

Parther on in this chapter I hope to show why it is

imperatively necessary to produce tea at a less cost;

and I think that to pack tea for a smaller outlay, and

by so doing to obtain better results in the garden, would

be true economy. The primary need for a successful

result is good leaf—without which, manufacturing

arrangements are of quite a secondary value ; and while

not forgetting my previous remarks as to impoverished

soil, planters will bear me out when I say that the

best soil loses its value when denied good culti-

vation. I think that in many cases the suggestion

will be applicable to give more attention than is fre-

quently now given to the production of the leaf, even it

were at the expense of manufacture. The demand that

existed ten years ago for pretty teas and silvery tips has

become modified almost to extinction. Useful teas are

the valuable ones now ; and good, solid strength, or fine

flavour, with a modicum of external roughness and un-

finieh, will be far more marketable than an elegant tea

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PHODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. 115

lacking these essentials. Consumers rarely look into

the caddy at the appearance of their tea ; they do not

like it to be so small as to pass into the cup, but other-

wise strength and flavour in the infusion constitute the

merits.

I will now endeavour to notice the feasibility of carry-

ing into practice the general demand from Indian planters

for their tea to be drunk by itself. The first point that

seems to require notice is that planters, from any district

whatever, invariably believe that, for some reason or

other, their tea is superior to all others, that it is a great

injustice to mix it with China tea, and is almost second-

hand nectar for drinking alone. Having myself been a

vigorous partisan of this way of thinking, I can hardly

be considered a novice in the matter ; and I feel quite

sorry to have to shatter the Penates of the planter's

mental home, by saying that the demand is unreasonable.

Planters whose only experience of Indian tea has been

obtained in Assam, or districts where the strongest kinds

are grown, have no idea of the really fine, delicate-

flavoured teas that are sent to England from other dis-

tricts—teas that undoubtedly are well-suited for drinking

alone—which those from Assam, Cachar, and Sylhet, as

a rule, are not. Many planters in the former place have

broken Souchong, or even fannings, for their own use.

How would they like to drink the Pekoe they make in

favourable weather in June and July ? I know of a case

where one of the London staff of an Indian tea com-

pany brought himself into a mental condition similar

to delirium tremens through alcohol, by drinking Indian

8 *


Pekoe tea too freely. The gentleman was an abstainer

from intoxicants, and naturally felt hurt when his doctor

said he had incipient delirium tremens. Such, however,

was the case ; and although the term was not applicable

in Dr. Blake's rendering of the expression—" the brain

fever of drunkards"—it was certainly the preliminary

stage of what Dr. EUiotson has called " delirium cum

tremore." No Assam planter could reasonably expect

people to drink his Pekoe. With a few exceptions,

Indian teas are far too pungent to be drunk alone.

Congou, as made plentifully some years ago, was about

the nicest drinking Assam tea. I well know the

regular cries about Indian teas being far more econo-

mical than Chinese ones, and I believe in, and advocate,

the practice wherever I can—but only as applied to

Neilgherry, Kangra Valley, or finer Darjeeling teas.

Some of the produce from these districts is delicious,

and possesses a delicacy of flavour which cannot be

compared with anything coming from Assam. I dare say

this will be exceedingly unpalatable to planters in the

old province ; and I am told by a few retired growers

who know that I am writing thus, that the sentiment

will not be appreciated ; but having myself at one time

loudly cried out against the (almost) iniquity of mixing

Assam tea with " nasty rubbish " from China, and seeing

now how impracticable it is to expect anything else-seeing, also, that it is in this very respect that Assam teas

are valuable—I think it would be a mistaken kindness

not to tell the truth on the matter. And I think, too,

that it must be added, that all the laments on the subject


have availed but little. Pungent Indian teas have been

wanted, as they generally are, have been bought as

usual, and applied to the purpose for which they were

bought ; but the growers have, in many cases, thought

themselves ill-treated. It will not be soothing to them

to be now told that Kangra and other " compara-

tively insignificant districts " grow tea that is put to the

use that Assam growers think their teas are specially

qualified for. But what is the converse ? Kangra

Valley teas, whilst (with the exception of some of its

Pekoes) very drinkable by themselves, are of but little

use in the purposes that render Assam and Cachar

teas absolutely incomparable. A good market has long

existed, and continues to exist, for the strong growths

of India to fortify weaker China and Java teas, and

for this purpose, year after year, the tea that reaches

London is sold. Supposing planters restricted the sale

for this purpose—as many would, if they could afford

it—what would be the result ? Where would people be

found to drink the teas that planters themselves do not

drink because of their strength ? There is no doubt as

to the injurious effects of over-strong tea—who would

drink those from India ? Such teas when infused cannot

be diluted into a pleasant drink ; for when they are

watered copiously the result is a thin, rasping, bitter

liquor, in no way mellow or nice. Can planters expect

people to go out of their way to such an extent as this ?

Surely not. The growers of these strong, rasping,

pungent teas, virtually hold a monopoly against the

whole world. Such teas are produced nowhere out of


India. Tea to be drunk unmixed must necessarily be

of but medium strength. China, Japan, and Java

export weak tea in hundreds of millions of pounds

annually ; do Indian planters, possessing at this moment

advantages obtainable nowhere else, wish their produce

to descend to the level of the teas they so vigorously

decry ? Instead of despising China tea because it ie

weak, and thin, and impure, they ought to be thankful

that it is so bad, because therein exists the safety of

their present unassailable position. Tea that is weak

enough, and poor enough, and common enough, to be

drunk alone witliout injury from its excessive strength, is

the outcome of cultivation and manufacture in China of

a kind in which Indian planters have no belief whatever.

Remembering that it is absolutely impossible for people

to drink for any length of time tea that is of extra

strength and pungency, do the planters of Assam and

Cachar desire that their teas should become common-

place, ranking with those from China, and that they

should pass out from the unassailable position they

occupy as the growers of tea that cannot be elsewhere

produced ? Either this, or the stereotyped cry results

from insufl&cient consideration. Which is the better :

—

to grow tea that cannot be produced in any other part of

the world, and have it used for fortifying China tea which

year by year becomes more in need of fortifying, and

to send it to a market where it is always saleable for this

purpose— a purpose which no other teas can supply

—

or to have the forty or fifty milUons of pounds which

reach home this season, take rank with teas that are

I'INANClAL ASPECI OF PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. 119

sometimes so common as to be chiefly valuable because

of the duty paid upon them ?

Briefly, then, it seems to me that this matter stands

thus :—Many Indian planters, while finding their teas

too strong for their own drinking, have through in-

sufficiently reasoning the matter out, thought that Indian

tea might be drunk alone, and that an injustice was

done to the industry in using their teas for fortifying

weaker China ones. But as some of the Indian growths

are much too strong for use by themselves, and as a

large proportion of the China tea imports into England

require strengthening, these strong growths from India

—

which cannot be used alone—are valuable for giving

strength to inferior China teas, and for this reason only.

Indian teas of unpalatable strength preponderate over

those of medium strength. If they are not to be used

for mixing with China teas, what is to be done with

them ? But for so mixing them, there would be no

market for them ; and planting in the Kangra Valley,

and other districts named, would stand an exclusive

chance of success, should mixing Indian with China tea

be discontinued.

One reason against the use of Indian tea by it-

self, and I consider it the principal one, arises from

the great natural strength of the leaf. The next

reason I almost think I may call a fungus on the tree

of domestic economy, in that it is not a natural, a

reasonable, or a profitable growth. Very generally

throughout the United Kingdom, and particularly in the

suburbs of London, for some time past, there has been a


low-priced tea mania. Competition in trade has become

so keen—suicidal almost—that in the sale of tea, Dis-

raeli's satire on competition (in " Popanilla," I thiak) is

almost verified, as people receive presents for buying

the tea at all. There has developed a great variety of

such inducements. Magazine Tea Companies, Book

Bonus Tea Companies, and others giving glass and tin

ware, pictures, ornaments, and sundry articles, with each

packet of tea purchased. These shops generally sell tea

only—and, as is well known, in an ordinary way retailed

tea carries a good profit. It is strange to think that

people patronise such patent deceptions—or, being patent,

I suppose they cannot be called deceptions—but there can

be no doubt that these article -giving companies do an

enormous business, and take from legitimate traders one

of their principal supports—the sale of tea. I remember

reading in (I think) the Grocer, some time since, that in

the north of England some tradesmen were " giving

away " two pounds of sugar to each pm-chaser of a

pound of tea. The result of all this in London and

many of the large towns is that grocers have been com-

pelled to offer their teas at the very lowest prices possible,

and their returns being thus lessened, they have not been

able to pay the price for tea that they formerly could.

The consumer has been the gainer in all this, and the

grower the greatest loser ; the retailer probably has

bought for less money, but his profits on his outlay have

been smaller. But the strangest part of the whole

affair seems to be that not only in the neighbourhoods

of artisans and working people, but in those representing

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PBODUCTION AHD DISPOSAL. 121

a higher social status, persons have now become accus-

tomed to expect a really good tea for very little money.

It is an odd phase of public expectation ; very disadvan-

tageous to the grower, and unsatisfactory for the grocer.

The editor of a London weekly journal, who had lived for

some years in Kussia, in speaking to me recently of the

difficulty of obtaining good tea in England, said that this

general belief in cheap tea constituted one of the strange

notions that occupy the public mind from time to time.

Persons whose consumption of tea is very small, strongly

object to paying a few pence per pound beyond a low

price to obtain much better tea, when the addition at

the most would be but the cost of a cab-fare for a short

distance, which they would not think twice about incur-

ring. Also, where gentlemen would never think of tell-

ing their guests that the wine was cheap, and would feel

hurt if anyone suggested that this was the case, rather

feehng proud to know it was costly, ladies, ruling the

other side of the domestic structure, pride themselves

upon what they like to believe is good tea at a low

figure, and persistently refuse to advance the price.

" Like to believe," I say. I must not cast doubt on

the tea, as it is not long since I saw labelled in a west-

end shop, " Good Indian tea Is. M. per lb." It was not

an exhilarating sight. I purchased some of the tea, and

remembering the hands it had passed through profitably,

from the broker downward, was loath to confess that it

was very good value for the money to the consumer, but

ruinously little money for the value to the grower. With

a large section of the public determined not to advance


its price, Indian tea (which reahses a higher all-round

average than -China tea) cannot be offered for sale as a

regular thing, and in the entirety of its exportation, at

anything like the price the pubHc is now only prepared

to give. This Is. 4d. tea, I think I may say, was ex-

ceptional—at least I hope so—but the general public, in

the masses, would not give the prices now realised for the

finer Indian teas, for the low-price mixtures seem to have

obtained the mastery of the public reason, and inflated

the general housekeeper with principles cheap and nasty.

Grocers have told me that they would be virtually closing

their doors for the sale of tea if they were only to offer

high-priced Indian produce. The day has passed when

tea was the beverage of the wealthy only; but the

masses refuse to understand that a tea at 2s. 6d. per lb.,

which goes nearly double as far as a weak one at Is. 8d.

or Is. lOd. per lb., is really the cheaper. A Bonus Tea

Company will, perhaps, give a tin tea-pot to the pur-

chaser of a pound of 2s. tea ; the bond fide grocer cannot

give a tea-pot, so he gives a better tea at 2s., or the

same as the Bonus Company's at Is. lOd. People see

Bonus Companies and grocers running low prices, and

forthwith believe that it is a mistake to pay a high

price for tea. To meet this belief, as I have said,

the grocer is compelled to pay less (which, of course,

lessens the sale price and afi'ects the grower) ; and to

make the best blends be can at the prices limited by

his customers, he puts in as much strong Indian tea as

can be afforded, with a balance of weak leafy China

tea. Therefore, even if all Indian teas were sufficiently


palatable to be drunk alone, grocers at the present time

could not obtain from the masses of the people such

prices as are realised in the sale-rooms. It is manifestly,

then, to the grower's interest to let the grocer have the

tea for his own purpose, or otherwise there will be no

demand for the strongest Indian teas.

There have been various efforts made in London to

estabhsh retail depots for the sale of Indian teas, and

for the direct consignment of crops, in order to do away

with all middlemen, and to make the grower the retailer.

The usual reasons given for inaugurating such esta-

blishments have been, that old Indians prefer Indian to

China tea, that in the past they have experienced great

difficulty in obtaining really good tea save at exorbitant

prices, that Indian tea is infinitely superior to China

tea—a fact beyond question—and that the intelligent

public have long been unfairly treated in that pure

Indian teas have been withheld from them, &c., and

various similar assertions which pretty fairly covered up

the fact that old Indians were really not catered for any

more than other sections of the public, and that the

principal reason for opening these establishments was to

make money, by keeping the Broker and wholesale

dealer out of the field. As a most natural sequence,

most of these efforts have failed. They have taken

form in shops, packet companies, &c., but have not

succeeded. Certainly a few remain, but their contiaued

existence is very exceptional and is to be accounted for

specially. It cannot reasonably be expected that a few

retail tea-shops scattered about London, could educate

124 The tea industey in india.

the public taste to prefer tea that growers themselves do

not care to drink. Very little tea, indeed, from India

requires strength to be added ; so where the palatable

teas might be sold for unmixed use, there would be an

immense surplus of strong teas. The consumption of, say

fifty millions of pounds, cannot be aided to any extent

worth thinking of by a few retail shops. If a giant

company organised a system of having an Indian tea-

shop in every town in the United Kingdom, but a frac-

tion of the Indian crop would be disposed of. Let

anyone notice the number of grocers in any mile of main

thoroughfare in London; and remembering that probably

each is selling Indian tea in his blends, and so main-

taining the demand for it, try to reckon how much (or

little) use a shop here and there would be. I admit that

Indian tea-shops might be made to pay for themselves,

but their aid to the industry would be represented by a

decimal fraction. Many efforts have been made to push

the sale of Indian tea by irregular channels, but with

very little permanent success. A few years ago grocers

were sometimes willing to take small crops for sale on

commission ; but they can buy now more advantageously

in the regular way. Brokers and public auction repre-

sent the only adequate means of disposal of the Indian

crop, looked at as a whole. A man having a smaU

estate might retail his crop in England, but his returns

would be slow in coming ; and viewing the industry

above individual cases, the produce must go through the

regular trade channels for efficient distribution, and such

channels are undoubtedly the best. The requirements


of the United Kingdom are represented in the Mincing

Lane sale-rooms. What are a few isolated shops against

such a centralised organisation ? Beside which, how

simple is the plan now in vogue of making tea over to

Brokers for sale and receiving the proceeds ; what an

easy system of realisation this is as compared with the

tedious details of a retail community, with a certain

proportion of bad debts.

I must just for a moment again refer to old Indians.

Old Indians like being catered for beyond a doubt ; it

generally pleases any man to be considered a connoisseur.

In point of fact, old Indians or anyone else need not

have the smallest difficulty in obtaining Indian teas, as

nearly all the London Co-operative stores keep a good

stock, some of them even going in for district growths.

Old Indians like to get inside an Indian tea-shop and

gup—there can be no doubt about that—but it often

happens that old Indians possess (or are possessed by)

Mem sahibs, who like to arrange for their own tea.

They, too, have lived in India, and know what tea is.

This regard for the comfort of elderly " Qui Hais " has

caught a good many of them, I know ; but I have heard it

remarked upon as strange that there are not correspond-

ing "damper" shops for ex-Australians, " sangaree"

taps for returning West Indians, with an occasional

" Baked young woman " dining-room for travelling

African gentlemen. From what I have seen of old

Indians, I cannot help thinking that if they particularly

wanted Indian tea and could not get it in London, India

not being a very long way off, they would soon have

126 THE TEA INDUSTEY TN INDIA.

what they wished. But then it is very pleasant to he

catered for.

A questionably judicious variety exists in the packages

containing tea sent home. That the same thing is

done in China is not necessarily a recommendation,

I think. Small boxes, excepting about the time of

Christmas sales, are generally of no standard value.

A twenty-pound caddy of Assam Pekoe might be a

rather costly present ; 'but it would be likely to make the

recipients think that the Assam soil possessed some

remarkable properties, or else that the black people

were not altogether aromatic ; for I think no one would

very long care to drink such tea as a regular thing.

There is but little demand for these small cases of tea

if they have to be put up to public auction ; they may or

may not sell well, but larger cases are preferable. I do

not mean of the ungainly size sent home some years

ago from one district, and which obtained the eupho-

nious appellation in the market of " Kangra Coffins."

No small quantity of tea is coming home just now in

one-pound lead-foil packets. Some of the London shops

arc selling these teas (Darjeeling and Cachar are all I

have seen), and I am told the packets sell fairly well as

novelties ; but the practice must necessarily be restricted,

seeing that Indian teas are required in bulk for mixing.

The masses of the people do not buy tea by the pound,

and as the public taste varies greatly in different parts

of England, grocers must be allowed to blend for them-

selves to meet this taste. A soft delicate flavoured tea

is not suited for places where the water is hard, or a

FINANCIAL SPECT OP PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. 127

rasping one where it is the reverse. These matters

cannot be worked from India.

The idea prevails somewhat generally in the tea dis-

tricts that Indian teas are not sufficiently well known,

that things for planters might be much brighter if

grocers and the public were more generally aware of the

superiority of Indian tea. All I can say regarding the

trade is that the tea could not have been sold in Mincing

Lane for forty years, and in millions of pounds annually,

without being pretty well known ; and although but a

small proportion of the public ask their grocers for

Indian teas, it is used in the shop mixtures The

majority of grocers now advertise " Indian a.nd China

Tea," or " Assam and China Tea," and people can get

Indian tea readily enough by asking for it, if they are

willing to pay the grocer's price. Beyond this, retailers

do not push Indian tea, because experience has shown

that generally the public either dislike the price or

grumble at the flavour—really meaning the strength.

Of course a more marked demand for such teas as are

suitable for drinking alone would greatly help the in-

dustry ; and if every planter in India would prevail upon

his friends at home to drink Indian tea only, some good

might be effected. But then Indian planters are

egotistical, and probably each would tell his friends to

be sure to get his district tea. This is, of course, per-

fectly natural ; it would be odd indeed if we did not

believe in the superiority of our own work. I know a

tea establishment which bought a chest of Dehra Doon

tea for an old Indian who walked in one day and asked

128 THE TEA. INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

for some, vouchsafing at the same time the information

that there was no Indian tea so good. He had the

chest to himself, in small quantities from time to time,

as no one else inquired for Dehra Doon tea. A similar

case occurred in the same place, when two old gentlemen

entered and asked to see some " Kakkar " tea. As the

assistant could not quite see what they really wanted, he

showed them the first Indian tea that was to hand.

One of the inquirers took a leaf, nibbled it, and exclaimed

triumphantly to his friend, "Ah! yes, this is it—

I

recognise the flavour;you can't beat the Kakkar tea all

over India." An order was given, and Cachar tea sent.

Belief in the virtues of district teas is very strong.

A somewhat similar fear to that last noticed is

occasionally expressed that young estates do not stand

an ordinarily good chance of patronage. This is a mis-

take. The London market is extremely fair, and

provided sufficiently large breaks are sent, planters may

rely upon their teas being tried, whatever the mark.

The monopoly of old marks has passed away, and good

tea will be found out, let its mark be what it may. At

the same time I would just mention that it is an un-

pleasant thing for a mark to get a bad name, because it

makes the sale of its teas very laboured. I just recal,

in writing, a case in which four wholesale houses gave

me the same characteristic as to the teas of one concern

regarding which I had inquired. Now I knew that

teas from several estates were packed under one mark,

with a distinguishing capital letter, and it was impossible

for all the factories regularly to commit the same error

Financial aspect of peoduction and disposal. 129

in manufacture;

yet, unfortunately, that was the trade

behef. Not that the teas were always so—they were

acknowledged to be of good strength—but they were

very likely to be affected, as mentioned to me. Indian

teas as a class stand in high appreciation in the market.

I was in the sale-rooms one morning just as the first

new China teas were arriving, and a brisk-looking indi-

vidual, with his hat on the back of his head and a

catalogue in his hand, remarked, "It is quite a treat to

come to the Indians after the Monings ;" and from the

worthy man's bidding I concluded that he was very

glad. On this occasion some of the Kangra Valley

Pekoes fetched higher prices than Assam ones of old

marks. I thought of the heavily-taxed soil.

Before passing from this subject of sales and disposal,

I am anxious to notice briefly the relative positions of

Planters and Brokers. I do not know what the latter

generally think of the former, but I do know what the

former think of the latter in very many cases—that

they know very little about tea, and are unable to have

any particularly keen interest in teas made over to them,

because of the short time they are in hand. Both ideas

are altogether wrong. Brokers are but too glad for the

teas they sell to realise well, and they have the interest

of the industry at heart certainly as much as the majority

of planters. It is oftentimes by no means an easy matter

for brokers to dispose of teas ; and there is a large

amount of quiet pushing, and endeavouring to secure

the highest figure possible, particularly when teas are

withdrawn from sales and have afterward to be disposed

9


of privately. Planters' and brokers' interests are mani-

festly identical—one cannot do without the other—and

the wish of each for the advancement of the industry

arises from the same cause, and its success is mutually

beneficial. There is not less proportionate labour to the

broker to sell teas for a low price, than there is to the

planter to produce it for so selling ; and a dull market

is as serious for the one as for the other. As for brokers

not understanding tea, it seems a very absurd thing

to notice, but the expression is by no means rare in

India. Brokers are not tea-planters, I admit ; but it

is in no way necessary for them to be. If good tea is

sent home, the trade will recognise and buy it ; but it is

unreasonable to charge brokers with not understanding

tea because they cannot readily sell such as are sour,

burnt, or flat. The fact that year by year the disposal

of the Indian crop is effected, is surely sufficient testimony

to the efficiency of London brokers. It is often said in

India that, as brokers do not understand cultivation and

manufacture, they cannot know much about tea. This

is ridiculous. It is not necessary for a bootmaker to be

a grazier to be able to tell whether a piece of manu-

factured leather will wear well. If tea is bad, it ought

to be sufficient for the broker to look to the planter about

it, and just say what is wrong. Before passing to mynext section of management, I should like to explain mymeaning in this matter more clearly, if I can, by a very

homely simile. When a tea-planter has been drinking

bottled beer daily for some years, he thinks himself able

to say when beer is good or bad, and it does not seem

FINANCIAL ASPECT OF PEODUCTION AND DlBPOSAi. ISl

necessary to him to be a brewer to decide that question.

And should a case of beer be bad, he thinks it quite

sufficient to tell the consignor of the fact. Further, he

feels himself qualified to express an opinion on the

subject, notwithstanding that he is not a practical

brewer. The same rule surely holds good with brokers

and tea.

What I have to say on the subject of management as

connected with production, will seem, I fear, at first a

little one-sided, although actually it aims as much at

the benefit of owners and agents as at the planter's.

I think that oftentimes managers are considered

responsible for what it is quite out of their power to

control, and are expected to bring about results to

which nature is altogether opposed. It is not un-

frequently believed that because a man makes good

tea on one garden, he must succeed in the same

thing on another ; or the manager of an estate may

have his life made miserable by being constantly

written to regarding the good prices obtained by a

neighbouring planter, and by queries as to why he

cannot also obtain a similar result. While I would not

for a moment endeavour to lessen the credit a planter

may secure for making good tea, I would say that all

managers are primarily dependent for success upon the

natural conditions of their gardens. Good tea cannot be

made from leaf grown in poor or unsuitable soil ; and

there is sometimes to be seen the greatest diifference in

the producing capabilities of two gardens situated side

by side. Where one, being favoured by nature, obtains

9 *

132 THE TEA INDtJSTRt IN INDIA.

good prices, the other, with nature against it, or less

favourable to it, ought not, because of its inevitable

result, bring blame to the manager. Ovyners—and

often enough even planters, too, for that matter—seem

to suppose that their particular tea ought to obtain at

least as high a price as any in the market. This is

most unreasonable. A planter who obtains good pridtes

for tea made on, say, an eight-year old Assam garden,

should not be expected to be able to make equally good

tea from an unmanured and proportionably exhausted

Cachar garden a quarter of a century old. The mania of

earlier years caused tea to be planted in places which

would not be looked at now ; but where such gardens

remain, it is useless to expect from them a return of a

hundred-fold. A careless system of manufacture, a low

standard of cultivation, and ignorant neglect, may cer-

tainly be avoided ; but it is very unreasonable to expect

a planter to make good tea, and blame him for failure,

when nature, or the class of plant in the garden,

excludes the possibility of success. It is possible to

assist nature, in draining, trenching, &c., but a manager

with a garden of low jdt plant in stiff clayey soil,

stands no chance against a garden of good plant in

friable soil. I have never met a planter who was not

too glad to make the very best tea he could con-

sistently with his estimated out-turn. It is unpleasant

enough to have one's neighbours getting the highest

prices, but to be blamed for this when everything else is

impossible, is particularly hard. Other cases of extreme

unfairness to planters occur, which might oftentimes be


averted and prevented, if agents and owners had a more

accurate knowledge of tea-planting, or, not having this,

would allow themselves to be guided by their managers.

A planter may sometimes see that the garden needs a

heavy pruning to ensure its later out-turn, and he acts

on his conviction. A reduced crop in the following

season results, agents become dissatisiied, and " reluc-

tantly " dispense with the manager. All they want is

success

—

i.e. an increasing crop : shareholders are not

satisfied with a report of heavy pruning, blight, or bad

weather, in lieu of dividend ; so the manager who, acting

conscientiously and consistently for the garden's future

benefit, made a short out-turn as a stepping-stone thereto,

is dispensed with, and a new man installed. The result,

of course, is a good crop of fine leaf from new wood, which

makes (or ought to make) capital tea : the new manager

is credited with his success, and the agents are confirmed

in their estimate of the previous one as inefficient

:

which estimate, more probably than not, goes the round

of tea people in Calcutta. Vivat Justitia !

Considerable unpleasantness often occurs through

factory estimates. Planters estimate for quantity under

orders, and (to my own knowledge) have been told to

estimate 60 per cent, of Pekoe. Now any planter could

make this percentage easily enough if he were able to

pluck at his own discretion ; but his practical know-

ledge goes for nothing against that of persons who

could not distinguish the Thea Assamica from the Coffea

Arahica. The only course left to a planter so placed, is

to pluck heavily without regard to the next season,


obtain what Pekoe he can by legitimate sifting, and

make up the 60 per cent, by crushing good marketable

Souchong through the Pekoe sieve. In estimating

expenditure, the probable cost of every item of factory

expense is oftentimes expected to be calculated to a

fraction, and allowances for incidental expenses, which

are absolutely certain to occur, are generally cut out.

This kind of thing is frequently carried out at the ex-

pense of efficiency, or if broken through, only to cause

unpleasantness. In out-turn, also, estimating is often

overdone ; a good one is wanted to put in the annual

report, often to cover the shortcomings of the previous

year's actual. Hail-storms, blight, cholera, loss of

garden-labour by fires, or bad weather, cannot be esti-

mated for—but they ought to be allowed for, as one or

the other is almost certain to occur. The emyloyes of

large concerns occasionally have the misfortune to lose

a reputation it has taken years of hard work to build up,

by being transferred to a district they know nothing of.

They find a difference in language, climate, seasons,

and mode of manufacture, and from unavoidable igno-

rance obtain a result far less satisfactory than had

"been expected.

It has been said with, I think, not a little truth, that

much of the success of the prosperous tea companies is

due to the retention of one staff. For many reasons

this is greatly to be desired, as planters become

thoroughly acquainted with the natural condition of

the soil, the capacity of the bushes, are known by the

coolies, and this familiarity produces good results.

ANCIAL ASPECT OP PEODUGTION AND DISPOSAL. 135

Gardens in a critical condition are often in no way im-

proved by a sudden change of management. President

Lincoln used to say that it was a mistake to change

horses when crossing a stream ; and the principle stands

good in many cases of the re-organization of failing

tea estates. Much expense, injustice, and disappoint-

ment might be saved, if, before believing a man in-

competent, owners would obtain professional testimony

as to whether a garden were capable of doing any better

than it had done. Because an estate does not make

progr'^s, it in no vray follows that the manager is in-

efficieu This will be a rather difficult point to agree

upon, I da say ; but it is only a just view. No planter,

however skilful, can work wonders with a garden that

suffers—as many gardens do—from insurmountable

natural disadvantages ; neither can any planter, of any

reputation or capacity whatsoever, do justice to himself

if kept short of labour.

I would just notice the feeling of mutual trust and

union that unfortunately is sometimes wanting between

the working executive of an estate. Often enough

owners grumble, and say other peoples' estates give far

better results, and what their agents are doing they don't

know. Agents are aggrieved, and say, that do what they

will, they can never work cheaply enough for some

people. Planters are worried by the voracity of the

owner-agent element, and believe that if their bushes

flushed every other day all the year round, they would

be accomplishing too little if they did not bring about

a special flush on Sunday ! And so the executive goes


on—a Mutual Grievance Society. This common state of

affairs is very much to be regretted, the more so as it

often results from ignorance. Owners are frequently

not financial agents, agents are not planters, and planters

are not keeping up London houses on the proceeds of

the estates they manage. Neither party understands

the way in which the other reasons or calculates, and dis-

satisfaction results. If owners would be more rea::onable

than they very often are, and would worry agents less than

they very often do, agents in their turn would have fewer

extraordinary requests to make to planters, and planters

fewer unleavened observations to make to their neigh-

bours, as to owners and agents both. Seeing that neither

section is really independent of the otlier, how very

much better it would be if, by the introduction of a little

mutual trust, the working were carried on harmoniously.

The owner may rely on his estate solely for his income;

but, while the planter's relation to the garden is pre-

cisely the same, and the agent's partly so, surely the

very best reasons exist for each section to leave the other

alone, to a proper extent, trusting to the powerful law

of financial self-preservation to accomplish all that is

needful. I say to a proper extent, because, of course,

primarily the agents are the servants of the owners, and

the planter of both, although directly responsible to the

former.

The very considerable decrease in the prices nowobtained for Indian teas, compared with those which

ruled even ten years ago, whilst resulting in many cases

from inferior quality, may be also partly explained on


the general ground that Indian tea has now fairly taken

its place as a staple commodity, and can no longer

command a somewhat fancy price as a specialile. Although

now and again small parcels of Pekoe still fetch remark-

ably high prices, the bulk of the Indian imports realise

a price much nearer to that obtained for China tea than

was formerly the case. As to the lower all-round

averages there can be no doubt. Public faith in cheap

tea seems, unfortunately, to be established ; and the

prices of Indian growths, in addition to the unpalatable

strength, render the sale of unmixed Indian tea ex-

tremely doubtful. It is in no way likely that market

prices will materially advance from those ruling now

—

of course there will be the usual fluctuations in the sale-

rooms—but the marketable value of Indian tea has now

been fairly well ascertained, and one most important

fact reveals itself therefrom, that as prices cannot go up,

the cost of production must come down. Either this,

or innumerable estates will become bankrupt. This

cannot be considered a pessimist view, but a hard fact,

which is supported by another—that, as I write, more

than a few concerns have taken a new lease of hope

because of an improvement in the tea-market. Produc-

tion, then, must be cheaper—how is it to be done ? I amperfectly well assured that every tea estate in India has

been worked at the closest allowance possible for some

time : so that to introduce economy beyond this, will seem

almost an impossibility. But I think it will be possible

to work more economically in one or two directions,

although, perhaps, the monthly outlay of money will


not be less. I would say first, considering the probable

bankruptcy of the soil of many gardens— of which

steadily falling prices, against higher ones for new estate

teas, are sufficient corroboration—let an agricultural

analytical chemist be employed to ascertain what pro-

perties of the soils of different gardens have been most

drawn on, and manures be scientifically constructed to

replenish the impoverished land. I write thus after

careful personal inijuiry on the subject, and would

caution owners and agents against the use of general

manures, such as are recommended for other crops.

The essential component parts of good tea should be

ascertained on a scale, and worked upon as a standard

;

soil should be analysed, and a manure made to add to

it, in proper proportions, such needful elements as are

lacking. It has been urged upon me by agriculturists

that this would be an expensive procedure, especially in

large estates; but as it seems to me to be virtually

countenancing the bankruptcy of the soil to withhold

active measures for its replenishment, I do not think

such an important and needful expenditure should be

kept back. And the working of this system would be

really very easy. The properties wanting in the soil to

provide the elements of good tea would not be numerous,

and the manures necessary for different gardens could be

made by rule-of-three calculations. The exhausted pro-

perties would vary in different gardens, but as the basis

of manure would be the same for all—to produce tea

—

it would be easy enough to add more of one element

and less of another, so as to put in each garden such


drugs as ought to be consumed by the bushes in the

production of superior leaf. A properly qualified analyst

could make a tour of the different districts, and examine

the soils of tea estates ; the analysis would show what

properties were wanting, and also their proportion, and

a manure could be made up in Calcutta—it would pro-

bably be blending the same materials in different propor-

tions for different gardens —and, as made, it could be

packed, marked, and shipped. In this way, soils could

be brought up to the possession of full capacity for

producing tea-leaf of requisite strength. Beyond the

cost of manure, there would be no expense for obtaining

from areas now under cultivation a largely-increased

out-turn ; therefore I say that although the monthly

expenses would not be less, the result would really be

economical.

This is one way of cheapening production- -by obtain-

ing a greater result from an existing area at a propor-

tionately smaller cost. Another way, it seems to me, is

the abandoment of many sections of gardens that are

altogether unremunerative, unless it should be decided to

manure them amply. I can call to mind at this moment

large sections of several gardens, with a greater per-

centage of vacancies than of plants, and vphich were

regularly hoed in the round, and hoed at a loss, for the

leaf obtained was scarcely worth the cost of plucking it.

Such sections, worked at a loss, or even if not cultivated

at a profit, would pay better in being closed, or kept only

for seed, with an occasional hoeing. I reniember sec-

tions of this kind that had been regularly hoed for years,


and the plants have been so scarce, that when eventually

" filling up vacancies " had been taken in hand, no

trace of the original lines could be found, and re-plant-

ing had to be done to fill up vacancies. This latter

work, too, is one that is oftentimes carried on upon

unsound principles of agriculture. Where bushes have

slowly died out from want of adequate plant-food, seeds

or seedlings are planted. This work of filling up vacan-

cies has misled many people, because the seedlings have

got on so satisfactorily, causing hopes to be entertained

of an eventually flourishing garden. Does not this

progress of seedlings contradict what I say? Not at

all. The case is simply that a child can develop upon

an amount of food which would not save a man's life

;

and plants that are growing for three years without

being plucked, are like people who, being fed without

giving work in return, need less food than a more active

member. I know cases can be shown where vacancy

filling has been a complete success ; but more often

than not, such vacancies have arisen through the bushes

being killed by bad hoeing, or by the borer, or thraugh

neglected cultivation, and not through impoverished soil.

But at the best the work is risky ; and I think it would

be a wise plan before beginning it, to submit a sample

of the soil to an agricultural analyst, for examination as

to whether it is capable of nourishing bushes fit to

be plucked, and not merely of developing seedling life.

Many gardens would derive great advantage if the labour

at present wasted on exhausted land were bestowed

on them ; higher cultivation would give more leaf

FINANCIAL ASPECT OP PRODUCTION AND DISPOSAL. l4l

aud better leaf; and a larger return from a smaller area,

I submit, would be greater economy than obtaining a

smaller out turn from a larger area. Then there are

out-gardens of many concerns which have never paid

—

estates varying from forty to, perhaps, eighty acres,

worked at a loss year after year. This is not the time

for drawing on the Hope Branch of the Collapse Com-

pany. If these numerous out-gardens have not paid in

past times, unless there is a large amount of young tea

coming into bearing, it may pretty safely be said that

they never will pay. And if a garden does not pay, or

in young tea has not a near chance of paying, working

it is useless. Such outlyings might be sold or leased.

There are planters who would rather work on a lease-

held garden with a chance of making a profit on their

own working, than draw a salary year after year with-

out a chance of making more money. Or, if Europeans

could not be found, natives would be ready to work in this

way ; and even five hundred rupees annually in rental

would be far better than the empty dignity of possession

in a garden worked at a loss. In advocating economy,

I know I am harping upon an old string ; but 1 hope I

advocate real, possible economy, and not the gnat-

straining parsimony of cutting a Es. 6 per month Chow-

keydar from the Bungalow establishment, or refusing

Ks. 60 per mensem to a hard-working planter, while

acres of land are year after year worked at a dead loss.

Some concerns have gone on for years extending and

cultivating, and taking a gross result instead of individual

ones • many shareholders in companies might receive

142 The tea industet m india.

decent dividends if one or two losing gardens were sold

or leased ; as it is, they are worked on, and lessen, as a

whole, the workings that would otherwise give good results.

I have elsewhere noticed the wisdom of the step taken by

some old companies in selling portions of their grants,

when there is no possibility of their using the whole.

This practice might be carried out to a still greater extent.

Times in tea never seem quite bad enough to prevent

some people investing—indeed, times such as those just

past might almost be considered the best for^ capitalists.

It would not be a bad plan for those who possess surplus

land to put some of it into the market, and invest the

proceeds in machinery : of the prudence of such a step

there can be no question. Even small concerns are

beginning to see this matter in its proper Ught ; but,

unfortunately, the right kind of machine has not been

invented yet—one to receive the green leaf at one end

and produce dividends at the other.

I have often thought that more economy might be

effected on tea estates if planters had a better insight

into factory accounts before taking over charge. Amanager can hardly be expected safely to economise

unless he fully understands the factory books. I believe

I may say that the general plan is for an assistant to

know nothing whatever about keeping estate books untU

he is placed in charge. When the time arrives for him to

submit his first accounts, he does the best he can, pro-

bably with the aid of the writer, and without anyone to

show him the ins and outs of the method. Or a planter,

after years of work with one concern, may take service

Financial aspect op peoduction and disposal. 143

with another, and have to supply accounts on totally

different forms, to study which he has no time, at all

events at first ; and when the end of the month comes,

he has to rely on his writer, excepting, of course, as

regards the cash-book. It may be said that with this

book right, nothing could go far wrong ; but there are

unenumerated items entered in the cash-book, which

cannot be properly checked at first. If planters had a

more detailed knowledge of factory accounts, they would

often be able to economise more than they do.

Many concerns are at the present moment vy^orking

their estates with money obtained on their title-deeds. It

is not long since that the confidence of Indian Banks in tea

vras almost shattered—at all events, it was shaken suffi-

ciently to call in many private loans made on Tea scrip.

Indian interest for loans is exorbitant, compared with the

rates at which money is obtainable in England. Interest

on deposits is also much higher, although not correspond-

ingly so. Some of the Calcutta houses have had great

difficulty of late in financing for tea estates, because of

the critical times and the consequent want of confidence

on the part of the Banks. Money might be borrowed

on tea property more advantageously in London than in

India. Of some loans thus effected, the actual interest

has been only 2 per cent.; and even paying this in

London at sterling rates has left a large margin over

Indian Bank loan-rates. Estates that have been made

—as, alas ! many have—^with borrowed money almost

from the first, will require some rather skilful financing

to avoid consuming their own value in interest. It has,

144 The tea inddstby in India.

unfortunately, been overlooked by many men able to

obtain money for opening out gardens, that by the time

the bushes came into bearing, three years' interest, on

all accounts, would represent nearly 50 per cent, addi-

tional cost of making the estate, and a total liability be

thus incurred which present prices would give but a

small hope of working off. And, as I have before

stated, Indian tea having found its level as to market-

able value, present prices cannot be expected to increase

very much. The position in which involved estates are

thus placed is particularly serious ; and it ought to

suggest special caution to those that intend to become,

or that think of becoming, working investors in Indian

gardens. It was suggested to me, in writing this

chapter, to go into the matter of agents' charges.

To do so I should have been compelled to enter into

such details as could only be given by indirectly

divulging information given me in London in confidence,

as to some of the Calcutta tea agencies ; I am, there-

fore, unable to notice the subject. I would, however,

just say that, to begin with, Indian Bank interest-rates

are high ; and agents' firms can hardly be expected

to obtain money on their own security, and pass it

on at the same rate to the credit of an insecure tea

estate.

145

CHAPTER VII.

THE LABOUE QUESTION.

In 1848, the inspector of teas for the East India

Company in China, after a residence of twenty-two

years in the country, pubHshed a book on the cultiva-

tion and manufacture of tea. Having fully detailed

every item of importance in connexion with the Chinese

industry, the elaborate and valuable work closed with

these words :

—

'' Thus, it appears, from the habits and wants of the

two people—Chinese and Hindoo—from the rate of

wage in the two countries, and from actual experiments,

that India possesses an undoubted power of competing

with China in the European and American markets in

the cultivation of tea. It, therefore, only remains for

the enlightened Government of Bengal, now enjoying the

fruits of peace, and turning its thoughts once more

to the moral and physical improvements of the people,

to extend its fostering help and encouragement, as it

has hitherto done, until the native population shall have

10

146 THK TEA INDUSTRY IN INDIA.

adopted and established the cur.ivation of the tea-tree

as a native product, nothing doubting that it will thereby

be administering to the comfort, happiness, and sobriety

of the people of India, as well as to increase the wealth

and commercial prosperity of the mother country and

her cherished colony."

Thus wrote Mr. Ball, more than thirty years ago ; and

looking at the tea industry of India at the present

moment, one cannot help thinking that the Government

of India is able to bear a good deal of advice without

suffering any inconvenience from it. " It only remains,"

wrote Mr. Ball, " for the enlightened Government of

Bengal to extend its fostering help and encouragement."

Mr. Ball is dead ; and the members of the Government of

Bengal at that time have, probably, all passed out of India,

many of them into happier (and well-deserved) spheres,

where tdldp is no more ; and the room that existed for

" fostering help and encouragement " has been steadily

handed down to a succession of Government officials,

and locked and closed to the real interests of the

tea-planter. At this late period it seems well-nigh

hopeless that- the thick skin of official red-tape-ism,

hardened by a long course of years, and well-barnacled

by the irritation of planters' plaints, can be pierced by

such a representation as the present one. Yet it

is the writer's hope that—independently of Govern-

mental acceptance of individual theories—some of the

views now put forth will lead to a clearer apprehen-

sion of the labour question by the planters and capitalists

concerned, and that an united effort may result in the

THE LABOUR QUESTION. 147

gracious extension of a small moiety of that " fostering

help and encouragement of an enlightened Govern-

ment " for which room exists even now more surely than

when Mr. Ball first wrote the passage.

" It only remains." The words meet the present state

of affairs admirably. The production of Indian tea has

increased from twenty pounds in 1840, to a probable

fifty millions of pounds in 1881. Lakhs upon lakhs

of rupees have been put into the tea industry, the mer-

chandise of the principal Indian ports has been greatly

increased thereby, hundreds of miles of deadly, unprofit-

able waste have been opened out, districts that were

marked on maps approximately only, and by the aid of

their explored boundaries, have been made habitable

and valuable, hundreds of thousands of natives have

been given remunerative employment, English lives and

English money have been sacrificed, steamer companies,

railway companies, and tramway companies have been

inaugurated, to the great benefit of the country and

people, posts even have been made for members of the

Civil Service—and now, after forty years of work, Eng-

lish money, English enterprise and determination having

'in every branch of the great industry done everything

that possibly could be done, "it only remains for the en-

lightened Government of Bengal to extend its fostering help

and encouragement" to the community that is weary of

waiting, for help in respect to labour.

It is a strange thing, this Governmental obstruction.

If it were passive indifference one would not be so much

surprised, because, from a tea-planter's point of view,

10 *


there is not very much that is suggestive of vigour in

the Government Kamjari. But the obstruction has long

taken the form of active opposition, having its source in

some remote and mystic corner which can neither be

ascertained nor assailed. Memorials and petitions to

travelling Governors-General and Lieutenant-Governors,

press representation, requests, and complaints, have

resulted, it may almost be said, only in making matters

worse. If some prominent member of the Govern-

ment, of known hostility to tea-planters, had used his

power for a term of years as an obstructionist, planters

would be able to understand matters ; but Viceroys leave

India, and Lieutenant-Governors change, and tea-planters

suffer still ; the victims of bigoted prejudice, official

fallacy and shortsightedness, and the objects of a con-

tinuous unfairness which seems to be handed down from

regime to regime, and to be kept as actively hostile as was

the oppression of the children of Israel through a

succession of Pharaohs who knew not Joseph

I hope I shall be able to establish my case, that this

want of countenance on the part of the Government is

fallacious and shortsighted. But before so doing, it

ought to be mentioned that planters are not unmindful

of their mercies. Many of them see a Bishop once in

two or three years ; there are dak bungalows in some

districts, put up for planters and used by road-engineers

and forest daragohs;

planters can obtain their letters

from the post-offices by sending their own men for

them ; their hves are cheered half-yearly by receiving a

great bundle of forms, bearing testimony to the tabula-

I'HE LABOUE QUESTION. 149

tory skill of some of the Grovernment officials who have

never been in the tea districts ; at about the same interval

Government sends round an Inspector to see that the

coolies are treating their Sahib properly. Government

also sometimes opens its heart, and gives a planter

Es. 100 to repair a road used by the public, and

which annually costs Es. 500 to keep in order. Then

there are Assistant and Deputy Commissioners who,

being up to the last thing in Jurisprudence, will fine a

cooly four annas for flatly refusing to do a day's work,

and, through the medium of a printed invite, will ask

the planter-employer to go into court to witness the

majesty of the law ; by which the said planter possibly

has a ride of thirty or more miles, loses the labour of

several witnesses, and, likely enough, is away from his

factory at the time when he could least be spared. And

then there is a police-service—incorruptible and un-

defiled—composed of men who are always quite ready

to arrest purloiners of factory property, if the Sahib

will show where the culprits are.*

* I remember two cases in Cachar. A planter had some boats

stolen from his ghat. He used his best efforts to obtain Khdbdr of

them, but failing, sent a full report to the Police Superintendent.

The official answer came that the robbers should assuredly be

arrested, and the boats returned, if the planter would send word

as to their exact location. Case 2.—Another planter sent a maninto the station with Es. 100 in silver to exchange for notes

with the garden agent. As coolies went, this was a trustworthy

man. But as he did not return at the proper time, inquiries were

made, but without avail, so full particulars as to the man's appear-

ance, &c. were sent to the Silchar Police Superintendent. Twodays later, a constable arrived at the factory, with an official

150 The tea iJfDUSTRT in india.

Such are some of brighter phases of the fostering help

and encouragement of an enUghtened Government. The

only explanation I know of having ever been advanced

as to the relentless opposition before mentioned, is

explained in that stereotyped and undying cry— '' the

Brutal Planter." It has been sounded and maintained

in India by people who were in English nurseries at the

time that the Indian press gave the preliminary howl

;

the howl, strange to say, that has been applied to the

various communities of planters all the world over

—

West Indian, South American, Tirhoot, Wynaad. Well-

meaning-people in Calcutta have expressed a hope to

me that tea-planters were not so cruel as they were

generally believed to be ; and precisely the same thing

has been said to me in England. In 1875 a native

playwright took iip the old strain in Calcutta, and brought

out " CM ka Durpdn Ndtdk "—a mirror that revealed

about as much truth regarding factory ddstoor, as, I

suppose, the writer's own glass did beauty when he looked

into it. Because, many years ago, a iew isolated cases

of ill-treatment came before the public notice in India,

tea-planters have ever since been stamped with the mark

of the beast, and officially looked upon ahnost in the

light of guast-slave-drivers, from whom coolies had to

application for particulars. (They had aU been given before.) Fourdays later, a notification was received that if the manager wouldsend word where the man was, he would be arrested at once. I

believe, in replying, the planter thanked the Superintendent, andsaid that were he cognizant of the individual's whereabouts, hewould undertake to arrest him himself, and, perhaps, with the aid

of a big stick, persuade him to return to the factory.

THE LABOUR QUESTION. l5l

be protected with the utmost vigilance. At least, this is

the only explanation I have been able to obtain, and the

information was given me by a magistrate who had long

resided in Assam, and who was well up in all matters

relating to the tea industry. The gross injustice of

judging, after the lapse of a number of years, the gentle-

men now representing the planting communities, upon a

conclusion arrived at when the fraternity consisted of

an utter medley of Europeans and Eurasians, is patent to

anyone possessing even a moderate knowledge of the

ways of tea -planters. I take it on the authority of past

writers and official inquiries, that at one period the

people allowed to pass the Government agents as fit for

working on tea estates, were, some of them, ex-muti-

neers, offshoots of the great Barabbas family, town

coolies, and the dregs and "riff-raff" of bazaars situ-

ated far from good recruiting-grounds. It is no cause

for wonder, either that such men refused to do the

work set them, or that the planter— believing the

men able to work because they had been passed by

the Government official—was sometimes resolute in

the interest of his estate. I would ask the Indian

readers of this book, just for a moment to remember

the groups of coolies they may have seen in Calcutta,

particularly in the vicinity of the markets in the

early mornings, and at the street corners with their

baskets later on, and inquire whether it was right for

such men to be passed up as fit for the tea districts,

to fell timber or to hoe in the sun or rain ? Had the

Government been honestly anxious to protect cooly


emigrants, they could have done so in one move—by

refusing to pass such men as were physically unfit for

the work they agreed to do. To pass them, and then

cry out at what was bound to be the sequel, was grossly

unjust. Such men were allowed to go to the factories;

and the consequence was that in many cases planters

found themselves surrounded by a number of totally

useless coolies, skilled, some of them, in the art of

rebellion, deceived, all of them, by the ofS.cial passing

them as fit for the life before them ; and, by degrees,

constant warfare resulted, in which the coolies sought to

beat the Sahib, and the Sahib, seeing the odds against

him, strove to maintain his position and to get his work

done, by such means as were at hand. I write

advisedly on this subject, after very careful inquiries

and correspondence with old tea-planters now in Eng-

land, and not merely to prove that the social phases

of tea-planting have now all changed, nor metapho-

rically to rub down the community of which, until

recently, I was a member. No reflexion whatever is

made on the old tea-planters ; as but for them, the

present ones might have been badly off ; but it is a

proved state of things, not at all confined to the Indian

Tea industry, that there is always a certain amount of

rough treatment for some section of a community that

comes suddenly into existence in a new field of specula-

tion. If the field be genuine, the speculative phase will

pass off in the course of years, and the industry become

one of steady investment ; the rough element in it will

also move elsewhere, and law-abiding men form the

THE LABOtJB QUESTION. 163

fraternity. Look, for instance, at the antecedents of the

very first Australian squatters, and at the class of men

now holding cattle-runs. Look, also, at the Kimberly

Diamond fields; the knife, revolver, and tent element

has passed away, small claims have been taken up by

companies, and the Kimberly fields, according to South

African papers, now represent a highly respectable town-

ship with a mayor and corporation, and are the working

seats of several companies, as sound in their holdings

as some of the best Indian Tea gardens. In past days

the suffering, roughing it, and sickness were not confined

to the natives on tea estates. There are graves in the

different districts which could tell harrowing tales of

European life struggling against a deadly climate, and

of surroundings that were infinitely worse for the white

than for the black man. The latter could get the food

of his own country at all events, but the former could

not ; the cooly had a house that was as good as any he

had been used to, but the European had not. When

the black was sick he was attended to and treated bene-

ficially, as far as lay in the planter's power, and as he

had never been in his own home; but as a rule, when

the Sahib was sick, though it were unto death, there

was no one to attend to Mm. Scanty food of an ever-

lasting sameness ; no liquor as a regular thing ; bad

health ; bad house ; bad servants. The Government

and the press cried out about the misery of the black

man, and in the characteristic mode of Anglo-Saxon phi-

lanthropy, forgot all about the white man, who was suf-

fering a great deal more. That there were some cases

154 I'HE Tea Jndustby in india.

of gross ill-treatment and unfairness, cannot be denied,

and I do not wish to account for them by the then

unpleasantnesses or the associations or the planter's life.

They were isolated, separate, and distinct. But then

there is hardly a community in the world that at no

period of its history has had the misfortune to record

some occurrence or other that was disgraceful and fre-

quently brutal. It is very great nonsense at this late

date—and in the total absence of any confirmatory

evidence whatever that a similarity now exists be-

tween the past and present state of things—to con-

tinue to stigmatise the planter as " brutal," or to act

in keeping with the supposition, when not a working

day in any year can now be found to pass in England

without the press recording at least one case of atro-

cious, shocking brutality, in which, generally, a womanis the victim. The belief still persistently upheld in

many parts of India and in England, that because,

years ago, the employers of large bodies of labourers

were found to ill-treat the blacks, the same state

of things must continue now, is logically unsound;

and the inference drawn by the Government that,

as planters are not to be trusted, labourers must

be practically discouraged or even prevented from

emigrating at will to the tea districts, is logically

unfair.

But I say emphatically, that things have changed for

both Europeans and natives, and changed for the better;

because the speculative craze has exhausted itself, and

people put their money in, and settle down to, Indian

The labour question. 155

tea, as a safe and sound investment, that will give a

good return in exchange for careful management, know-

ledge, and hard work. Because of this, labour has be-

come infinitely too valuable to be treated badly. Good

coolies are far too difficult to obtain to be ill-treated or

crossed when secured. Labour is the great machinery by

which tea-land is made valuable ; and it is costly machinery,

too, especially for Assam tea-planters. Now, no manwould be fool enough to buy a machine, and then

wilfully damage it ; and precisely the same thing maybe said of tea-planters in regard to their labour. Putting

aside all moral considerations (which in many cases have

great weight), there are many solid reasons for which a

planter would refrain from treating his labourer badly.

There are gardens, in every district, which are always open

to run-away or time-expired coolies. At present the

maximum term of cooly service is three years ; and

it requires no great effort on the part of a native to

remember injustice or severity during that period, and so

to refuse to renew his agreement when it expires. Now,

it costs nearly Rs. 100 to get a good jungly cooly from

Bengal to Assam (I know of cases vphere the cost was

much higher). Distributed over the three years of

service, Es. 33.5.4 per head per annum, or Es. 2.12.5

per mensem, is represented. Now, say a planter in one

year gets up fifty such coolies. In addition to whatever

pay they may earn, the annual blanket, and the sale of

rice at a probable loss, for three years there is repre-

sented on account of these coolies Es. 138.14.2 per

mensem, or Rs. 1,666.10.8 per annum, besides the


cost of houses, medicine, and hospital comforts, wliich

give no tangible results, and can benefit no one save the

individual cooly himself, nor be recovered from anyone.

It vpould be, I should imagine, impossible to arrive at

the exact value of a cooly' s labour in its relation to the

amount of tea or profit made on the whole workings of

a year ; but with this heavy debit running through the

first three years, it may safely be said that, useful as it

is, there is not a great deal of profit on the labour given

in the first term of service. It is after this, when the

cooly and the Sahib know each other, and the man has

become acclimatized, that his real value begins ; and it

is only by sheer diplomacy, unless there are strong

family reasons for his remaining, that the planter can

retain his cooly. There are gardens that will give a

large proportion of the cost of importation as a bonus to

a good cooly for a three years' agreement ; the manager

reasoning, very logically, that it is far more economical

to get a three years' contract from an accUmatised manfor, say, Rs. 50, than to pay Rs. 100 for a new one from

Bengal. As to whether it is neighbourly so to do, will

be considered afterwards. It must be acknowledged

that sometimes when a cooly has been for three years on

a factory, he naturally enough thinks he would like a

change ; and should it happen that the manager has not

come up to his notion of what a Sahib ought to be,

nothing save his relationships will induce him to remain.

Old sirdars (at the Sahib's hookum) may coax and cajole

as the hubble-bubble passes round at night ; but the verbal

hikmdt is insufiBcient. The manager may expatiate upon

THE LABOUE QUESTION. 157

the advantages of the factory, the good water and hos-

pital, and villages and bazaars near at hand, the small

number of deaths, and the cleanliness of the garden,

" which is not like some of these new bdgichds, always

getting into jungle, and making work very heavy for

the coolies," &c. &c. &c. ; but it will be of no avail

—there will be the regulation answer that a bhai at

another factory wants the individual, and he must go

to him.

It is almost useless to endeavour to reason with

coolies. If they fancy they have cause to dislike the

Sahib on the factory, nothing will remove the idea, and

even a large bonus will not prevail upon them to stop.

I have been occasionally unable to help thinking that

agents did not seem to be fully aware of the almost

primary importance and great value of a manager who

got on well with his labour ; and I think this lack of

just estimation is the outcome of the ignorance of the

management of coolies, which residents in towns cannot

be expected to have an intimate knowledge of. Every

planter knows well enough that the most detrimental

thing that can happen to him is to get a bad name

amongst coolies ; and the matter cuts the other way,

too, for the best qualification a manager can have is that

of being successful with his labourers. It is not of

much use for one to be able to make good tea, if the

tea-house hands are constantly changing through men

leaving. I have written more fully on this subject of

cooly-management in another chapter, and it is here

only necessary to notice the abstract result. No matter


what the causes may be, a planter is invariably con-

sidered inefficient if his labourers go away in any

numbers—excepting, perhaps, in the cases of minor

assistants, who are responsible to resident managers;

and then it may happen that the Burra Sahib, under-

standing matters, exonerates his assistant, and draws

the blame on himself. Of course, it is not for a moment

to be wondered at that information as to unrenewed

agreements is most unpalatable to estate agents. If

"nothing succeeds like success," it is BquaUy certain

that nothing fails like failure. When a garden is doing

badly, and coolies leave, and the manager writes that

he . must have more labour, even to keep the garden

out of jungle, the agents have good reason to ex-

claim : "Ah! it never rains but it pours. Here is

Loksan Barree already on the wrong side of the books,

and now the labour is leaving !" And they would most

probably think the manager had better be changed, in

which case the planter's prospect would be very bad

—

going from a garden that did not pay, because he could

not keep liis labour. This would be failure indeed. Evenwhen a manager is doing well, and seems to be in swing-

ing prosperity, he may be suddenly very seriously in-

convenienced by a number of cooly agreements running

out, and his progress thwarted by insufficient labour to

maintain the momentum. It is easy enough to under-

stand how, in either of these cases, the planter would

strive his utmost to retain his coolies, and unpleasant as

it would be for him to report failure to Calcutta, it surely

would not be less unpleasant for his agents to receive

THE LABOUK QUESTION. 159

the information. What I wish particularly to point out

is, that knowing he can look only to himself for success

with his labourers, and knowing, too, that failure with them

will stamp him both locally and in Calcutta as ineflficient,

every manager is absolutely compelled, in his own interest,

to leave no stone unturned to ensure success with his

coolies. Planters have to manage their labourers with

an eye to the future, and not to act arbitrarily during the

course of an agreement, because, once in a while, at all

events, the usQal relations of planter and cooly are re-

versed, and that is when the former asks the latter to

renew—because the latter never, or hardly ever, goes to

the former to ask that he may be allowed to do so. Ayoung assistant, recently out from home, may very likely

have a notion that coolies are not of much account ; but

before he obtains his first charge, he will (or ought to)

have found out that in many matters it is necessary, for

his own sake, to be thick-skinned with coolies, because

they are of far greater value and importance than might

be thought when they commence a conversation with

" Ap ha gholdm." Coolies' interests are identical with

the personal ones of the planter ; and because of this it

may be said without any hesitation that coolies are

treated well. Importing a number of them, of course,

lessens the garden profit, and with it the manager's

commission. Inability to retain his labourers must

eventually result in a planter being replaced. The

value of a manager who gets on well with his labour,

is of no visionary kind. Local superintendents and

divisional managers of concerns are always ready


enough to get a good man to their side if they can.

I remember one case where Es. 50 per mensem

was refused ; the planter resigned, and before he gave

up charge of his factory, was appointed to another

one near at hand ; twenty-five old coolies followed

him to his new quarters in a few weeks, and the agents

who had refused him Rs. 600 per annum, had to re-

place these coolies, in new unacclimatised men, at the

cost of the difference between the bonus to the old ones,

and that of importing fresh ones, or about Rs. 70 per

head, or for twenty-five adults Es. 1,750, when they

could have kept the manager for Es. 600. It was said

at the time that even then the agents gained, because

three years of the manager's increase would have been

Es. 1,800—Es. 50 more than the cost of the coolies;

but subsequent events drove this idea out of reckoning,

as the twenty-five coolies were but the first instalments

of others who followed as their agreements expired.

This will show the value of a planter who manages his

labourers successfully. Perhaps some will say that it

was very wrong and malicious of the planter to take the

coolies. 1 cannot see it. But his good reputation

amongst natives had been used for his garden's benefit

in past times, and as he could not himself take a fresh

charge and transfer his reputation to his successor,

he took it with him for the interests of his new

employers, as he would have kept it for his old ones, had

they been more generously inclined.

Therefore, for the reasons here given, I hope I have

made it clear that the planter's interests are combined

THE LABOUE QUESTION. .l6l

with the cooly's well-being and contentment ; and I

consequently think it quite unnecessary to endeavour

further to prove that the planter is treating himself

badly in treating his cooly badly, that he fully under-

stands this, and is not ass enough to do it.

I am anxious to construct this chapter as follows :

—

I.—To show the importance of the tea industry and

planters' work generally, and the labour require-

ments;

II.—To show the only known cause of the absence

of Governmental countenance to the same;

III.—To show the fallacy of such cause, as being

contrary to the planter's own interest

;

IV.—To show what is the real state of affairs on tea

estates

;

Y.—To show how Government might help the planter

in respect to labour ; and how, in thus doing,

Government would help the revenues and peoples

of India at large;

Together with one or two observations which may help

planters and agents to see their own side of the

labour question in a clearer light.

It may seem rather odd to give a skeleton of this

chapter when half the questions to be noticed are written

upon ; but the subject is proving of greater length than

I anticipated, and long chapters without distinct sections

are apt to be confusing.

Governing coolies is not always a jovial occupation.

In the planter's position with his labour-staff there is

much to irritate, provoke, and sadden. As I have said

11


before, it is well-nigh impossible to reason with coolies,

and they are naturally very. obstinate through their igno-

rance. I cannot uphold the opinion often expressed in

India that the cooly is totally devoid of the power of

feeling grateful. I know there is very much—I have

myself experienced it—to lead to this belief ; but I have

found exceptions to it. Where a planter is blessed with

an accurate conception of his duty, and acts upon it, there

will be some of his coolies who will grow to like him,

and vrho will be liked by him in return ; and, so far as

work goes, there will also be developed a feeling of

perfect trust. It is this way of thinking and working

continually that establishes the planter's position on

his factory, and makes the coolies ready to follow him

should he leave, and the Sahib to want the coolies in

the same event. And there is much to bring about this

oneness of feeling, especially in the case of a new garden.

For then the coolies are comfortably housed before the

Sahib, who is most likely to be in a lonely spot at some

distance from European neighbours ; and as the time

passes, he sees his patch of clearing increasing by acres,

his nurseries thriving, his cooly-lines multiplying, and his

sick-list growing less. In the evening when his work is

done, having no better society, he saunters down to

the cooly-lines and chats with the people, who also are

resting after the work of the day. They look to him

for everything. He gets rice for them, has a shop

established, plans their houses, and often, as an induce-

ment to stay, lends them money to buy cows, and pur-

chases the milk for himself and the hospital, treats them


when they are sick, and feels their value. He explains

his plans to the sirdars, pointing out the land he intends

to clear, the site of the bungalow, &c. ; he is out with the

men all day, knows their worth, and the name of each.

In the case of old gardens, coolies are particularly well-

off. Planters are at all times most anxious to have

their lines put up in healthy places, and numbers

of houses have been abandoned at the doctor's sug-

gestion, for the benefit of the coolies' health. Houses

are built on high land, plastered inside and out, well

thatched and drained, and men told off to the duty of

keeping the lines quite clean. Every morning all sick

labourers can go to the doctor, or, if there is no such

officer, to the planter, to be treated ; and I may say,

without fear of contradiction, that men who are really

unwell are never sent to work. (Some lazy ones often

pretend to be sick, and are sent about their business.)

Whenever a man feels unwell in the course of his work

he is always at liberty to leave off and go to the doctor,

and then to his own house. Or if he be quite laid by,

and can earn no money, he goes to the hospital and is

fed and treated. In this respect he is far better off

than his master. Planters' fare is painfully regular ; and

the diet during sickness is necessarily the same as in

health, excepting, perhaps, that some tinned delicacies

are indulged in. But when coolies are sick, they are

given soup, corn-flour, arrowroot, and tea, and whatever

can be provided for them is freely procured ; and they

stand a better chance of regaining their health and suffer-

ing no ill after-effects than the European, who has no

11 *


one to see that he takes his medicine and attends to

himself; if he knows what to do, in the depressing

effects of fever, he frequently does not do it ; and he

goes on in a condition of indifferent health, trusting to

chance to pull through. But the cooly is attended to

regularly, and gets well quickly. When convalescent,

he is put to light work ; but for the planter, ill or well,

the duties remain unchanged. In the case of new

coolies, generally, on arrival, a quantity of rice and other

diet is given them ; they are allowed a day or two to

settle down and make companionships, are then put on

whatever work is most pressing, and paid in full, irre-

spective of the amount of work done. At least, such has

been my experience. In this way, dravsring full pay for

some time, they are able to get the necessary cooking

utensils a good cloth or two, &c., and to make them-

selves cosy. If they are put on hoeing, they are paid

full wages, because their hands are always too soft at

first to do the full task. The majority of coolies on the

majority of estates, are well satisfied with their lot, and

it would be diflficult to say what more could be given

them than they already receive. Great care is taken to

ensure a supply of good water ; vegetable gardens are

made in odd corners, cow-houses are built, and shelter

put up for goats;

pigs grunt about the Lmes and drive

away the snakes, and the coolies are peaceful and con-

tented. It is quite a pleasant sight, when the day's

work is done, to sit in one's verandah and look to-

Vfard the cooly lines. Slowly the smoke of many fires

ascends into the air ; outside the houses, during the


hot weather, groups of cooliea are to be seen sitting

round the family fire, the men smoking and gossiping,

and the women preparing the evening meal. The cows

have been driven in from the pastures (the herds being

provided by the factory), the goats have been penned

and the day's work measured ; and here the people sit

waiting for their repast. It is ready at length ; and

although the modes of serving and despatch are primeval

rather than elegant, a happy, contented spirit reigns

throughout the lines. Later in the evening the tom-tom

sounds ; men chaunt, and women dance; perhaps there

is a big dinner on a small scale at the house of a sirdar,

or given by a father on the birth of a son, and, whencarried on in moderation, the sounds of simple festivity

rise pleasantly in the evening air. And the Sahib, while

not envying the coolies their surroundings, feels that

they are enjoying the society of their fellows, and need

nothing more than they possess ; and it is not unlikely

that he will think of, and realise, his isolated position, in

which reading and smoking after dinner are (or, as they

go jointly, is) the only occupation he can indulge in

;

and he probably turns into his bedroom, and under his

mosquito-net, with that strange feeling on him which

looking out into the silence of night seems to bring to

all planters at some time or other, but which cannot be

described. There can be no doubt that natives appreciate

the state of affairs brought about for them by the majority

of garden managers ; and this is strikingly proved where

there happen to be native-managed gardens near those

under European supervision. Two gardens, which I knew


when they were owned and worked by native managers,

were hardly ever out of jungle; and many of the flushes

that managed to come were lost, because hardly any local

labour could be induced to work. Oddly enough, both of

these gardens (in different districts) were little flat patches,

and the European-managed ones near at hand, to which

local labour readily went, were hilly. I thought that,

perhaps, money was uncertain ; but found, on inquiries,

this was not the case, but that simply the natives liked

the Sahib's bdgichds best.

Government officials often wish it to be thought that

they have a lively sense of the probable sufferings of the

cooly. Surely planters suffer too ! Mental discomfort,

such as coolies cannot understand;

physical discomfort

from the extreme climate ; social discomfort in the greatest

degree ; and when they are sick, their strong constitu-

tions and muscular bodies offer far more substance for

fever to play on than does the cooly physique. Fortu-

nately, a far more satisfactory state of affairs now exists

in regard to medical attendance than was the case some

years ago. Medical assistants in many cases have been

added to the factory staff, and native doctors, it mayalmost be said, are numerous—acting, generally, under

the supervision of a European medical officer, whovisits them weekly or fortnightly, and who is always

available in urgent cases. But such cases are very rare

;

cooly complaints being generally represented by a few

simple diseases that can easily be treated successfully.

With so much in his favour, no wonder the cooly is

contented, and follows his Sahib when he believes him


to be the source of his comfort. I am here reminded of

an instance in Cachar, where a planter had a batch of

thirty Madrassi coolies sent him, who were very feeble

and faint-hearted. Every morning before going to work,

they were taken to the hospital, and each man was given

something more than a spoonful of rum and milk. This

treatment was continued for weeks, with the most bene-

ficial results. At another place; in the rainy season,

when men started working very early in the morning,

the manager was surprised to find bowel complaints

largely on the increase. He instituted inquiries, exa-

mined the wells, &c. without success ; but at last ascer-

tained the cause. Many of the coolies had got into the

way every evening rf cooking sufficient rice for the then

meal, and also for the early morning one, which latter

they ate cold. In standing over several hours after

boiling, the rice fermented and was very injurious as

food. So the manager forbade this being done any

more, explained matters to the coolies, rang them up at

the usual time in the morning, but gave them an hour

after the first gong to cook their rice and have their

meal properly.

On some Assam gardens I know well, the Kachari

coolies often finished their day's work of hoeing by nine

o'clock in the morning ; and Bengalis (who, as a class,

rise later), by ten or eleven o'clock. They had then the

rest of the day to themselves, or could go out and work

" ticca." Some of them would thus do three days' work

in one. Can any " overtime " such as this be found in

England ?


Planters grow to take a very keen interest in their

coolies, knowing whom they marry, and often the names

of their children, and always doing their utmost to

relieve them in times of sickness. I remember one

Christmas, when there was a Cholera epidemic in the

district, the annual dinner in the station showed several

vacant chairs, where planters from outside factories felt

too saddened to join the festivities, because of the fearful

scourge then raging. Let a man who has an unfavour-

able opinion of tea-planters be with any one of them

during a visitation of Cholera, and he vfill never again

talk about the " brutal " planter. Eather, if he has

not been used to treating blacks, he will admire the

courage and kindness which are drawn from the heart

of every planter when his coolies are afflicted with this

terrible curse.

It is a cooly's own fault if he is not happy. But,

having given the bright side of native life on tea estates,

I am going to give an equally truthful dark one. Un-

fortunately, dissatisfied members are to be found in

every community of men or women ; and in the tea

districts these folk cause much that is undesirable in the

planter's life. The first and greatest cause of these

unpleasantnesses is that unsuitable coolies are sent

up. On one occasion I was visiting at a factory

when a batch of new coolies arrived. The planter

inquired of each what had been his work in his owncountry ; and one tall angular youth said that he had

earned his bread by rubbing oil into a fat old Baboo !

Fancy sending such a man to hoe a tea-garden ! Of


course, had this lad been one of an otherwise agricul-

tural family who were all going up, there would have

been nothing to say, for planters are always glad to see

relatives keeping together ; but, as it was, the lad was

without relations. In the case of depot coolies, it is to

be regretted that very often gross misrepresentations are

made ; and where a man's caste would cause him to be

rejected as unsuitable, this is changed in the lists

provided, and the planter is misled. Eeally healthy

coolies are not often troublesome. The sickly ones, or

those who indulge in bhang or gdnja, are generally the

fractious individuals, and these are constantly getting

into hot water, quarrelling, working badly, or possibly

flatly refusing to work at all. Now, it is maintained as

being contrary to law for any unauthorised individual to

act as is only in the power of the court to order ; and

planters have frequently been told in court, that when a

man refuses to work, the right thing is to charge him in

court with breach of contract. I once was so pleasantly

situated, that the nearest court on one side of me was

sixty-five miles oif, and on the other about forty-five.

On first taking my overcharge, one or two cases occurred,

of men flatly refusing to go to the work to which they

were told off. This question being a rather delicate one,

I purposely give my own experience. Now I had been

given my charge on the supposition that I could get mywork done, and at first there was a good deal of it to do.

I should like to know whether any man who has had to

manage blacks would say I acted sensibly if I had gone

through the official routine of charging these men with

170 THE TEA INDUSTRY IN INDU.

breach of contract. Say I made but one journey to the

nearest court, I should have had ninety miles to travel

;

witnesses would have been necessary, and they would

have taken at the very least four days for the double

journey, beside their time in court ; my coolies would

have known that they could openly defy me, and put me

to the trouble of going backward and forward to court

;

and the result of their deliberate refusal to work, mywasted time, and the witnesses' lost labour, would have

been—What ? That which I have known to be pro-

nounced in court as the reading of the law on the

subject

—

a fine of four annas for the day of refusal, and a

like sum for each day's absence in the case ! My coolies

were not fined at all, and they did their work. By the

way, it occurs to me in writing, that boys are birched at

school for disobedience, and soldiers are punished with

the cat for the same offence sometimes. Supposing the

latter to be authorised, what legalises the former

—

necessity ?

If laws of no possible utility are made, planters

must supplement them by others which have a more

practical bearing on the case. Legal authority, as set

forth in punishment, is supposed to reform ; but no

lazy cooly could be even improved by a four-annas fine

—especially when he knew that to get that imposed the

factory had lost a larger number of rupees. The ex-

perience of some Bengali coolies in Assam has been

that offending against the law is a very advantageous

proceeding. Coohes return from some of the jails in

far better condition than they have ever been before.


The only disgrace is that they have to wear a uniform

dhoti, and when put on to hoe ground, weed or make

roads, they are presided over by a Sepoy armed with a

shooting-iron, which I have myself seen placed under

a tree to guard the Sepoy as he slept, and (presumably)

to impress upon the prisoners the awfulness of crime—as they squatted and chatted at their perfect ease.

,Then,

soon after, the day's work being done, they returned to

their temporary residence to have their evening meal.

This is the punishment for much more serious offences

than merely refusing to work.

Occasionally events transpire in connection with

labour that are almost disastrous to the planter. It is

bad enough when agreements expire, and coolies will

not renew them ; but it is by no means a rare thing for

a batch of new coolies, after being a few days on an

estate, to clear out (or literally, bolt), leaving no trace

behind them. The only thing that a planter can do is

to write a circular-letter, and send it round to all the

neighbouring factories, asking permission for the bearers

to search for the runaways. This is always given, and

the planter writes " seen "; but it is seldom indeed that

the absconders are found. I remember, when in Assam,

a notice of this kind reached me, stating that a batch

of thirteen new coolies had levanted after being one

night in the factory. Here was a loss of over a thousand

rupees ; and I afterwards learnt that none of the people

had been found. This kind of thing is positively

grievous to planters. I have previously mentioned the

police. Now in England, if a man (or men) absconded


with valuables to the amount of a hundred pounds,

almost every police-station in the kingdom would be

apprized of the fact, and a notice of the same posted

up. But in the tea-districts there is nothing of this

kind ; and the law which is so ready to fine a planter

for using force to make a man do the work he has con-

tracted to do, gives no aid whatever when the planter's

money is going out like this. In cases such as these,

the planter is generally considered at fault ; and really,

this is not to be wondered at. Yet what is he to do ?

The coolies arrive as other batches have arrived, they

are housed and fed ; and perhaps at daybreak, a few

mornings after, word is brought that they have gone.

Coolies cannot be padlocked in their houses like cattle.

Very likely several roads lead from the factory, and the

planter sends messengers on each. He can do no more.

If there are any police near, they are of no use ; and

information has to be sent to Calcutta, which is as un-

satisfactory as it would be to say that so many hundreds

of rupees had been thrown into a river. This kind of

thing must naturally affect all concerned. Planters

almost fear to trust their coohes, and agents think there

must be something radically wrong for people to abscond

like this and not be recovered ; so the manager gets

discredit and discomfort both ways.

It often leaks out by degrees, after coolies have gone,

that men from other estates have been in the lines, for

purposes which could not be explained. . In most

factories it is the custom for a report to be made to the

manager every evening as to absent coolies and visiting


ones in the lines. But it is easy enough for an outside

man to say he has come from a near factory to visit his

friends, and it can hardly be proved that he has not.

No planter can prevent the public passing through his

garden, provided they go in an orderly manner. But,

often enough, these men " from near factories " come

from distant gardens to ascertain as to expiring agree-

ments, and to persuade coolies to leave ; and natives

will sometimes be thus induced to go to estates scores

of miles off. It is hardly necessary to say that for one

planter to poach upon another's labour is most unfair.

A man's position is often entirely dependent upon his

successful management and retention of his coolies ; and,

unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that cases occur

in which natives are persuaded to leave a factory before

their agreements expire. There can be no term for this

other than robbery ; and it is a very aggravated kind of

robbery, too, because it takes away that which cannot

be immediately replaced, and on which very much is

dependent. In briefly noticing this subject in my former

pamphlet, I said that I was glad to know that an Asso-

ciation was in course of formation to protect planters

from this kind of thing. From information afterwards

obtained, I believe the scheme fell through completely.

It is useless to try to call this taking away agreement

labour by a milder term than has been used ; but justice

compels me to look on all sides of the question. Many

gardens are in such financial difficulties that agents

cannot send up coolies;yet managers know that unless

they obtain a certain result notwithstanding, they wHl

174 THE TEA INDUSTRY IN INDU.

have to go. While dishonesty can never be recom-

mended as an admissible means to an end, I must

confess that it is difficult to say what course is open to the

planter. And although not always, he is sometimes to

be exonerated from the charge of dishonesty, as on the

representations of his (local) recruiters, he is led to

believe that the coolies he may soon expect are all time-

expired people. It has been tried in some districts to

organise a system among planters by which no coolies

would be engaged locally excepting on showing a certifi-

cate of discharge. But there are always managers who

cannot agree to this. They say that they are short of

labour, and must get all they can ; and if a new manpresent himself as a time-expired cooly from elsewhere,

he will be taken gladly. When we remember what

worry, anxiety, and seemingly hopeless struggling in-

sufficient labour means for the planter, it gives no cause

for surprise that short-handed men should thus act. I

hope to show further on how all this might be avoided

if Government would aid the planter. Another irritation

to garden-managers is caused by men—not a few in

number—who go the round of districts, asking to be put

on agreement and receiving the bonus, working for a few

days or weeks, and then levanting, going to another

factory under a difiierent name and performing the same

round, and so on, until they are caught. The following

was an experience of my own. I was working a newgarden, which was very short of labour. A man pre-

sented himself, and asked for a year's agreement, saying

he came from a factory about twenty miles off. where he


had served for three years. Not being able to explain

satisfactorily why he wished to come to my factory, I said

he might work if he liked, but I should not put him

under agreement until he had been some time on the

place. He remained for about three weeks, and worked

well ; and I then put him on a one-year's contract. Hewent on for about two months more, when I received

a letter from a planter at some distance, whom I had not

the pleasure of knowing, saying that it was reported to

him that a man who had taken a year's agreement at

his factory, and levanted soon after, was under agreement

to me—would I allow his messengers to search in my lines ?

I knew that no such-named man was on my books, but

the men made inquiries, and said they could ascertain

nothing. Soon after, my new agreement wallah ab-

sconded, and I unsuccessfully tried to find him. An old

sirdar told me a little while later, that he believed the

man was constantly coming into the factory at night,

trying to persuade some of the coolies to abscond. I

offered, through the sirdar, a reward for the man's appre-

hension. When some of my coolies were at a neighbour-

ing bazaar shortly after, my absconder was seen, and

—

well, he was brought back to me. As a runaway agree

-

ment-cooly, I placed him in durance vile, and sent in an

application to the police -superintendent that he might

be formally arrested on the double charge of absconding

when under agreement, and for endeavouring to entice

away other agreement-coolies. While waiting the result,

the planter who had written me before, again wrote saying

that further information led him to believe that his man


was in my factory, passing under the name used by my

lately-captured agreement-wallah. This individual was

interviewed by the bearers of the letter, and identified.

Eventually, he was sentenced to imprisonment on the

double charge, and I believe that as soon as he left the

jail free on my account, he was arrested on a similar

indictment instituted by the planter referred to. It

transpired that this man was a regular recruiting agent

for some gardens nearly a hundred miles away ; that

his plan was to give a year's agreement at a factory,

spend his money freely amongst the coolies, and then

persuade them to follow him to the planters who em-

ployed him, and by whom, of course, he was well paid.

But it is as likely as not that all men so taken were

represented as time-expired people.

I said, in an earlier part of this chapter, that govern-

ing coolies was not a jovial occupation, and I hope I

have explained some of the causes of this being the case.

When coolies abide by their contracts, they make the

Sahib's life easy, and are themselves well-cared for,

kindly treated, and enjoy an existence that is a perfect

Elysium to what is the order of things in their own

country. Coolies who behave themselves and do their

work want for nothing and save money ; and I know of

one case where a man deposited sixty rupees with his

Sahib as a guarantee that he would return to the factory

after visiting his home. His agreement was out, and he

was at liberty to leave finally ; but he lodged this money

of his own free will as an assurance that he would return,

and he considerably augmented it with the bonus for a

The LABOtJE QUESTION, 177

three-years' agreement, when he did so. The act was

good testimony as to whether coolies who do their work

are badly treated. There are troublesome, vicious, evil-

disposed men on tea estates, who harass the planter's

life more than can be described ; and there are good,

steady, reliable men, who thoroughly believe in the Sahib

and his ddstoor. But both classes receive equally such

consideration and kind treatment as is in the planter's

power to give ; and where any suffer at all, it is because

they will persist in being obstinate, instead of following

the example of their fellows, to whom life is thoroughly

enjoyable.

The great machinery upon which all industries are

dependent, is labour. In speaking to an Official some

time since on the reluctance of the Government to help

tea-planters, I was told that, as a community, they were

never satisfied, even though laws had been passed which

enabled almost any man to take up land. I admitted

that the last land laws of Assam and Cachar were cer-

tainly favourable ; but that it was not a very gigantic

piece of generosity to give to planters land that no one

else would use, and which, in being utilised, benefited

the country immensely. And I (perhaps naturally) asked

what was the use of the Goverment making laws by which

any man could take up land, when, by the action of the

same Government, it was so difficult to obtain labour

to develop its value ? It was equivalent to asking

men to make bricks without straw. I told the Official

that I knew of miles upon miles of excellent tea-

land in Central Assam, along the Government road,

12

l78 THE TEA INDUSTBY IN INDIA.

running parallel with a river leading directly into the

Brahmapootra, and navigable all the year round, but in

which district, during a several hours' elephant journey,

no village, or even hut, was to be seen, excepting

the roadside bungalows, erected at intervals by and

for the road engineer. The neighbourhood was simply

and absolutely devoid of any inhabitants, excepting in

the hills near at hand. In the spot to which I refer, if

labour were brought up in the usual course from Bengal,

the tea industry might be increased immensely, without

the fear of planters squabbling over land. The road and

river communication is simply magnificent ; and if a giant

Company could be formed to take up this district, it would,

I am sure, meet with certain success. Manufacturing

could be centralised in a manner that I have never else-

where seen such advantages for. Planters would at first

have to colonise the place, and look to themselves for

everything ; but after a while the Assamese might be

attracted and villages made, in which poultry would

be procurable. Planters have done this kind of thing

before. At one time I had occasion to consider the

preliminaries for starting a garden in the district, and

I found that a satisfactory commencement could be

made with the hill-labour near at hand. I recently

learned that the land remains unopened. Now, this is

but one of many such spots, in which remunerative

occupation could be provided for innumerable natives, if

they were more easily procurable, A few pages back I

endeavoured to give an accurate statement as to the

condition of Bengali coolies on tea estates in Assam

I'HE LAiiOUE QUESTION. l79

and Oachar, in the section of this chapter, " Toshow what is the real state of affairs on tea estates."

Now the reluctance of the Government to help planters

with labour might reasonably be supposed to indicate a

condition of contentment and prosperity in the districts

used by planters as recruiting grounds, by reason of

which it is a positive unkindness to endeavour to per-

suade natives to leave their homes for the tea districts.

The closing section of this chapter will unavoidably be a

long one. It is " To show how Government might help

the planter in respect to labour, and how, in thus doing,

Government would be helping the revenues and the

peoples of India at large."

It will be admitted, readily enough, that where land

has been lying waste from time immemorial, there would

have been nothing to encourage vegetarian settlers to it,

who were unable to obtain a living on it. Thus it has

been with- many of the tea districts ;. high land being

unsuitable for rice cultivation, natives have passed it by,

and peopled spots more suitable to their own needs. The

population of these spots has been increased only in the

small ratio of family additions, and not by any large influx

of enterprising cultivators. Therefore, local labour has

been totally inadequate for the tea enterprise. Thus

the planter's need has arisen ; and he has looked to the

populous districts of Bengal for help. If the places to

which he so looked were able to provide satisfactorily for

their inhabitants, Government would have been justified

in letting the planter fight his own way in prevailing on

natives to leave their holdings. But if, on the other

12 *


hand, such places were totally unable to provide for their

population, and if the people themselves v?ere in the

very lowest depths of degraded, helpless, awful poverty,

ground down by taxation which has resulted from igno-

rance, and mortgaged, well-nigh body and soul, to local

money-lenders—if, I say, the people whom planters

wanted, lived by chronic starvation that is heart-rending

to know of, because their rulers could not understand

their needs, or, understanding, would not recognise them

and ameliorate their terrible misery—then, I say, in such

a case, every man of even minimum intelligence would

suppose that a professedly Christian Grovemment would

be sincerely glad of any opportunity whatever for im-

proving the condition of such people. And I say, too,

that this latter is the actual condition of the majority

of Bengal ryotwan, and that successive Governments

have persistently done nearly everything in their power

to prevent such oppressed ryots improving their position

by joining tea estates, on which I maintain, without fear

of contradiction, they would, if they were wilhng, hve

such a life as I have described in earlier pages. I amgoing fully into this matter, because I am anxious to

show how grievous and criminally unjust Government

has been, not merely in negatively refusing to facihtate

planters' recruiting operations, but for not systematically

organising emigration from the overcrowded districts of

Bengal and Southern India, when they knew full well,

both that there was a great need of labour in the tea

districts, and that there was no room, nor means of

sustenance, for a large proportion of the people in locali-


ties from which planters wanted labour. 1 do not mean

to support my case by any doubtful data, or by state-

ments which—perhaps with some reason—might be

thrown back upon myself, as an incorrect version of

affairs, resulting from a limited knowledge of the sub-

ject. When in Assam and Cachar, I frequently inquired

for, and noted, such information as was obtainable from

coolies, regarding the condition of agriculturists in their

respective localities ; but I confess that the information

given me was so awful—I can use no other word—that

I thought my informants were treating me to what

Americans call "tall talk and a big thing in yarns," so

accepted what I heard cum grano salis. I thought, too,

that possibly my interpretation was excessive, and that

the terms used represented lesser or greater quantities

in the Bengal districts than they did in my own. But

now, sad as is the admission, I find I was insufficiently

informed ! Had it been the reverse, in the face of the

more accurate information which I shall give, I should

have abandoned my own notes. The data to which

I allude is obtained principally from the London

Statesman, a journal edited by a good man—sometimescalled in India the " melancholy pessimist "—who, for

a quarter of a century, has been striving to obtain

equitable rule for England's great dependency ; and the

article in question—" The Peasantry of India"—is from

the pen of a well-known contributor on Indian matters

to the first London journals, and whose name is a

sufficient guarantee for accuracy. I refer to Colonel

Robert Osborn. I believe I may say, without implying


culpable ignorance, and, I hope, without giving offence

(which I should exceedingly regret doing), that from the

force of circumstances, and, to a certain extent, the

biassed press of India, tea-planters, as a rule, are not in

a position to know the terrible phases of life which exist

amongst native agriculturists in most parts of India out-

side the tea districts. I have said that Government has

been grievously and criminally unjust in not helping such

agriculturists to the tea districts, where there existed a

remunerative market for labour. To support this, I

cannot avoid giving lengthy extracts from the journal

mentioned ; and I believe that in doing so I shall be

adding to the knowledge of tea-planters in India and tea

proprietors at home, as to the actual condition of the

Indian peasant. While I hope to show, before closing

this chapler, that the extracts so given bear upon the

subject, should any reader consider them excessive, I

would ask him to believe that I feel the point at issue to

be so important, and know my authority to be so good,

that I feared erring on the side of insufficient corrobo-

ration to what I have said of the Government action

in the labour question.

In England, if a too severe sentence is pronounced

by a magistrate on a small boy, there will always be

found a Member of Parliament to speak of the matter

in the House of Commons, and so bring it to the notice

of the Government and the country ; and this repre-

sentative interest holds good in all matters increasing in

importance from the somewhat triTial illustration given.

But there is no such thing in India A man with a


grievance writes to one of the daily papers, and he can

do no more—or, rather, it is wiser of him to do no

more, for as a rule he suffers for petitioning the official

in whose province the matter in hand really lies. If

official notice be taken of the letter in the newspaper, a

process of circumlocution ensues, and the Government

official nearest to the subject of complaint is called upon

for a report. Giving one unfavourable to the Govern-

ment is playing with edged tools ; and the usual result

is that the highly-paid officials representing Her Majesty

in India, soothe themselves with the belief that they

are administering manifold blessings to Indian natives,

and that there is nothing wrong. Indeed, I think I

might almost with accuracy say that the official mind is

such as to consider itself capable of performing abso-

lutely anything, excepting to make a mistake. The

London Statesman says :

—

" A young civilian or a young lieutenant is no sooner

landed in the country than he deems himself better fitted

to discharge any duties whatsoever than any man of the

two hundred millions of human beings who are the

natural and rightful owners of the country. Very rarely

indeed does this conviction fail him as he rises in the

service. In most cases it grows stronger, for as he rises

he encounters less and less contradiction. To our

countrymen in the East, India is merely the ' milch cow

'

whence they are to obtain sustenance sufficient to

enable them to return to their native land. The only

way to effect this with expedition is to stand well with

the powers that be. Clearly, then, the schemes and


ideas of these ' powers ' are not to be subjected to a

rude and unsympathetic criticism by subordinate officials

;

they must be accepted impUcitly, as the revelation of a

superior wisdom, in closer neighbourhood to the fountain

and source of absolute truth. In this way a strange

kind of false conscience is developed in the minds of

British bureaucrats in India. It may be designated an

' official conscience,' the primary law of which is not

fealty to truth, but what is called ' loyalty to Govern-

ment.' This ' loyalty to Government ' is set forth as

having in it something grand and heroic, like the charge

of the Six hundred in the Valley of Death,

—

' Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs hut to do or die,'

—

the somewhat important distinction being, unfortunately,

ignored, that while the Light Brigade rode into the jaws

of death, the devotees of the ' official conscience ' are

riding only with high emoluments into the enjoyment

of large pensions. The ' men of Hght and leading,' the

Lieutenant-Governors, Chief Commissioners, and Mem-bers of Council, who distribute honours and emoluments,

naturally love to surround themselves with those in

whom this ' official conscience ' is most highly developed

in preference to all others among the sons of men.

These are the men who can be trusted to ' carry out

orders,' who, as they assure us, 'take an interest in

their work,' and who are perpetually burning incense for

the delectation of the ' men of light and leading.' As

THE LABOTJE QUESTION. 18S

for those fallen natures who perversely believe, and

insist upon pointing out, that India is not a place

wherein administrative infallibility regulates the destinies

of the best of all possible worlds,—these are consigned

to a doom fit for such dispositions. They are excluded

from the official Paradise, and are sent forth to study

repentance, and develop, if they can, the ' official con-

science ' in malarious and remote stations, which have

been known to bring back many an erring and rebellious

spirit to walk in the straight path of ' loyalty to Govern-

ment.' Surrounded thus by satellites,

' For ever singing as they sliine,

The hand that made us is divine,'

a great Indian official regards himself as being in wisdom

superior to Solomon in all his glory. He will undertake

with a light heart the vastest schemes of legislation, the

most sweeping social rovolutions, and record the glorious-

ness of his achievements in his own official reports.

True it is that these achievements, for the most part,

are allowed to bear very little fruit. His successor has

his own crotchets to carry out, his own desire for dis-

tinction to be fed ; and amid the hosannas of his satellites

' loyal to the Government,' he too frequently begins by

uprooting what his predecessor has planted, and sowing

his own crotchets in their place. But though all things

else change in India, there is one thing that never

changes, and that is the issue of roseate reports setting

forth the achievements of each successive Governor-

General or Lieutenant-Governor, as the case may be.

It is the publication of these reports which has wrought

186 THE TEA INUUSTEY IN INDIA.

that deep-seated impression, which must be effaced

before any real good can be done, that our adminis-

tration in India has been a constant passing on from

one successful and benevolent achievement to another.

A belief more erroneous it would be difficult to discover

among the errors and superstitions of humanity,

" I cannot, of course, in the space of a brief article,

give the record of nil our failures ; but I choose that

particular matter in which we might have achieved our

greatest success, had our administration of India been

marked by those excellencies which are generally believed

to be its leading characteristics.. I mean, of course, the

condition of the agricultural population. Almost aU the

wealth that there is in India is obtained from the culti-

vation of the soil. The bulk of our revenue is derived

from the land. It is, therefore, a primary interest, as it

is a first duty of such a Government as ours, to have

special regard for the prosperity and well-being of the

agricultural classes. And in no particular have we been

wont to contrast our rule with that of native rule so

largely in our own favour, as in our dealings with the

land. Our fixed and equitable assessments have, so we

have declared, enhanced the value of landed property.

Our great public works have enormously increased its

productiveness ; and the order we maintain throughout

India has given security and peace to the ryot and his

family. Under the benign protection of the British

Government, they can enjoy the fruits of their toil in

unmolested quiet. There is not one of these beliefs


which is not delusive. Our deahngs with the land have

been more completely destructive of all ancient proprie-

tary rights than was the Native rule which, preceded our

own. Our rigid and revolutionary methods of exacting

the land revenue have ground the peasantry down to the

lowest extreme of poverty and wretchedness, and the

decrees of our law courts have been the means of laying

upon them burthens heavier far than any they endured

in times earlier than our own.

" Sir Kobert Egerton, the Lieutenant-Governor of

the Punjab, in the discussion on the Deccan Eyots'

Relief Bill, expressed himself as follows (the italics are

mine) :

—

" ' The circumstances which have led to its being

introduced seem to me to be of such general prevalence

throughout India, that the mode in v^hich they are to be

treated in the Deccan may possibly form a precedent in

other parts of the country. . . . There are parts of the

country in the Punjab, as doubtless there are in every

Presidency, where the rainfall is uncertain, and the crops

precarious ;yet in all those parts of the country the

Government has introduced its revenue system, which

obliges the peasant proprietor to make payment of a

fixed sum at fixed times, as Government revenue ; and

the Government has imposed most stringent conditions

in regard to the realisation of this revenue. It seems to

me that but too little stress has been laid on this cause, which

must in a great degree contribute to, if not entirely oiiginate,

the indebtedness of the Deccan ryots. The ryot who has


become indebted to a hanker is obliged to pay the Government

demand in cash ; to procure that cash he has again to resort

to the rnoney-lender ; and as long as the Government demand

regularly comes upon him he is obliged to go again and

again to the rnoney-lender, in order to procure cash to

meet it.'

" The condition of the Deccan ryots has become so

abnormally miserable, that the cry of their distress has

reached even the careless ears of the British public.

... In the foregoing extract from Sir Robert Bgerton's

speech, we have the assurance of that experienced officer

that it is the rule throughout India, rather than the

exception.

" Mr. C. Crosthwaite, in describing the revenue

system by which the agriculturist is forced into the

clutches of the money-lender, says :

—

" ' Anyone who has gone, about the middle of April,

from Calcutta to Meerut, must have noticed the various

stages of progress of the harvest as he passed upwards.

Below Benares, the fields are all bare and brown. The

corn is in the threshing-floors ; most of it is already

trodden out. As the traveller goes northward, more and

more fields of standing wheat and barley meet his eye;

the stocks of gathered grain become smaller and fewer.

When he reaches AUyghur, it will seem to him that

the sun must have gone back, and the season changed.

The crops that were rich and golden yesterday are

lighter and less ripe to-day. Hardly a field is cut. If,

when he reaches Meerut, he leaves the train and passes

into Rohilkund, he will find the wheat still green, and


the harvest-time two or three weeks to come. If the

traYeller is a stranger .... will he not wonder to

learn that the Government of these countries collects

its rent from one and all at the same time ; that the

peasant whose wheat is still standing and green, and the

man whose corn is already trodden out and dressed,

have both to pay their rent on the same day ? . . . Yes,

we think a man would have to search long and far before

he found a more apt illustration of " How not to do it,"

than is to be seen in our system of collecting the land

revenue. If it was our object to make the pressure of

the revenue as severely felt as it could be, how better

could we proceed ? . . . We find that the harvest time

varies from the end of March to the end of April. Weselect a day that barely gives time to the peasantry to

reap and sell their crops in the most forward districts,

and make it rent day for all. Where the harvest is earliest,

we drive the farmers to throw their produce into the market,

and make the fortunes of the dealers ; where the harvest is

latest, we forestal it altogether, and compel the peasant to

borrow his rent from the usurer. . . . The result is that the

people are enslaved to the usurer. And to make the matter

worse, the exorbitant interest which he got when there

were no courts, and when his chance of getting the

principal back was very small, is secured to the money-

lender by all the power of the British Government.'

" It is worth while to follow in some detail the pro-

cess whereby our agriculturists are enslaved to the

usurer. Under Mr. Crosthwaite's competent guidance,

we can trace it step by step. He takes au ordinary

190 THE TEA INUUSTBy IN INDIA.

peasant, and goes through a year with him to see how

he gets on :

—

" ' It is the beginning of October. He has six acres

of land. Three of them are under autumn crops, and

three are ploughed and ready for wheat and barley.

The next thing is to get the seed. ... In a big village

hard by lives a fat Marwaree, who has the custom of all

the country-side. Off to him hies our cultivator, with

a dozen others on the same errand. For his three acres

he requires, in round numbers, three maunds of seed (a

maund is eighty pounds). Wheat is now selling for

thirty pounds and barley for forty pounds the rupee.

The Marwaree, therefore, books him as follows:

—

Two maunds of wheat

One maund of barley

Total

Our friend then returns home with his three maunds of

seed, and his debt of Rs. 7.6.4. He is now busy,

sowing his spring crops, and looking after his autumn

harvest, none of which is yet ready to gather. October,

however, has still a week to run when . . . rent-day has

come round. The first instalment is due. The land-

lord has come for his rents. What is our cultivator to

do ? If he cannot pay, the landlord will distrain, and

distraint means ruin. . . . The end, then, is that about

fifteen days after he borrowed the seed, our friend is on

his way again to the Marwaree. This time he wants cash.

The whole country-side is then wanting cash ; all at the

B. a.

5 5

THE LABOUR QUESTION. lOl

same time ; all for the same purpose ; all because their

crops are not ripe and their rent is due. . . . He lies

down that night with a heavy load of debt—Rs. 7.5.4

for seed, and Ks. 8.3.3 for rent. He and his wife talk

it over before they go to sleep. Between them they

make out that the debt comes to Rs. 15.8.7. But the

interest—they cannot count up that. Let us see what

it will be. It is universally the custom to recover the

advances made in April for seed at the harvest time.

The interest charged is at the rate of 50 per cent, per

annum. . . . Now, our friend borrowed in October for

seed Rs. 7.5.4. Let us see what he will have to pay in

April. First, if he pays in money, he will have to

return :

—

Principal

Interest

Total

But April is a long way off, and he has no time to

think of it. He must, however, repay the money he

borrowed for rent, and that soon. Such loans are given

for a month only, and interest is charged at the rate

of one anna per rupee. ... So about the 20th of

November, the cultivator has to find the sum of

Rs. 8.11.6 to repay the loan of Rs. 8.8.8, that he took

to pay his rent a month before. In a day or two he

has also to pay his second instalment of Rs. 8.3 8 to

enable the zemindar to meet the revenue demand of

December. But at this time he has not so much diffi-

E.

192 THE TEA INDUSTRY IN iNDlA.

culty, if the season is good, in finding the money. Well,

we need not visit our friend again until his harvest is

ripening early in April. . . . Down comes the zemindar

again. There is another revenue instalment due on the

15th of May. He must get in his rents a month or a

fortnight before. The cultivator has to find Rs. 8.8.3

again. Again he has to go to the Marwaree, and

borrow the amount at the same moderate interest of 75

per cent, per annum.'

" In this detailed manner, Mr. Crosthwaite follows

one of our Indian cultivators throughout the year,

making out that, if all goes well, the man will have

about twenty rupees wherewith to support himself and

his family for more than six months. And he sums up

as follows :

—

" ' Under the most favourable circumstances, the

cultivator must borrow to pay half his rent, and pay

interest for one month at the rate of 75 per cent, per

annum. Out of every Rs. 100 of rent, Es. 50 are

borrowed, and Rs. 3.4 paid as interest to the money-

lender. The revenue of the North-West Provinces is

about four million pounds sterling ; the rental cannot

be less than seven millions. Therefore, in round

numbers, about three millions are borrowed every year,

and one hundred thousand pounds paid as interest hy the

cultivators. . . . All this burden is simply thrown on the

peasantry by the system of taking the rent before the

crops are harvested. ... It appears, then, that by our

system of collection, in the most favourable circum-

stances, at least one hundred thousand pounds sterling

The laboue question. 193

of the produce of the land are made over annually to the

money-lenders. This, however, only represents a portion

of the loss actually caused to the peasantry ; for it is seldom

that things go so smoothly as we have supposed them

;

and the share of the money-lender in the produce is

probably much more than the sum we have named.'

" The reader after perusing the foregoing will not

fail to understand how it is that the state of things has

been brought about which is described in the following

paragraph from a letter of a district officer addressed to

the Government of the North-West Provinces, during

the terrible famine of 1877-78 :—" ' In the whole division, the difficulty which pre-

sents itself now is this. The poorer class of cultivators, the

ploughmen and labourers, cannot get food except with great

difficulty. The money-lenders close their advances to the

cultivators, and the labourers have no work to do. The

Banias {i.e. money-lenders) are in the habit of feeding

the poorer class of cultivators on the strength of, and on

the security of, the crops on the ground ; whenever

there is little or no crop sown, or when the crop sown

is endangered by drought, the Banias close their money-

bags, and refuse food or its equivalent. The people are

then thrown on their own resources, which are nil.'

" In other words, the North-West cultivator is the serf

of the Bania . . . then perishes in the manner described

in the following extract from an official report, dated

1878 :—'* • Whole families were carried off by one fatal meal.

There is a weed called batua, which seems to be resorted

13


to a great deal by people in distress, though it is a

terribly dangerous food, . . . The general opinion was

that so long as a man could get salt to mix with battia,

and not less than four chitacs (eight ounces) of grain to

add to it, a long period could be tided over safely ; but

salt was said to be indispensable, and at widely distant

points I heard the same expression—" Those who died

were those who could not get salt to eat with their

batua." With or without salt, however, diet of nothing

but batua for four or five days was, so they said, more

than the strongest could stand.'

" But this is the way in which we govern India. So

long as the administrative machinery will work at all,

our leading officials resolutely shut their eyes and ears

to its increasing crankiness, extracting such comfort as

they can from the reflection that, in all probabiUty, they

will have left the coach before the final and hopeless

breakdown. The primary object and desire of ninety-

nine out of every hundred Enghshmen in the Indian

service is to obtain a pension and leave the country.

The Indian official is, literally, a hireling who careth

not for the sheep whom he is expected to tend. His

object is to earn a livelihood, not to redeem a ruined

people. His official position, as well as his feelings, are

unafiected by either the censure or the approval of those

over whom he is set to rule.

* * * « »

" The land settlement, as it exists to this day in

Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, originated, as most people

are aware, in a giant act of confiscation. . . . The

THE LABOUR UESTION. 195

consequences which ensued constitute, perhaps, the

gloomiest episode to be found in the history of British

India. Large tracts of land were depopulated, and

tenanted only by wild hogs. As late as 1852, the

following is a picture drawn of the Bengal ryot by one

of his own countrymen :

—

" ' In Bengal, the ryot will be found to live all his days

on rice, and to go covered with a slight cotton cloth.

The demands on him are endless. This prevents the

creation of capital, and prolongs the usurious m.oney

system. Bengal is noted for the exuberance and fertility

of the crops ; but the present condition of the ryot is

miserable. His monthly expenditure is from one and a

half to three rupees, or from three to six shillings ; but

there are not five out of every hundred whose annual

profits exceed Rs. 100 or £10. ... He lives generally

on coarse rice ; and pulse, vegetables, and fi.sh (a mere

drug in Bengal) would be luxuries ; his dress consists

of a bit of rag and a slender sheet ; his bed is composed

of a coarse mat and a pillow ; his habitation a thatched

roof upon supports; ... he toils from morn till dewy

eve ; he is a haggard, poverty-stricken, wretched crea-

ture. Even in ordinary seasons, and under ordinary

circumstances, the ryots fast for days and nights from

literal want of food.'

" This being the testimony of a Native, may be sus-

pected of exaggeration ; I add, therefore, the evidence

of an indigo-planter, of the same date :

—

" 'I question if the ryot is better housed, or better

clothed, or better fed, than he was fifty years ago ; he is

13 •


always in debt, and always in need, and always liable to

be oppressed by any man who has power over him. . . .

The poorer classes in Tirhoot are even worse off than

they are in Bengal. A Bengal ryot has always a tenure

of land, which he cultivates at a perpetual rent ; but in

Tirhoot the ryot has no position ; he has not a bit of

paper which gives him any right to hold his land longer

than the proprietor chooses to allow him. . . . The

district of Mymensing, which embraces an extent of land

5,000 miles square, is supposed to contain 800,000 inha-

bitants. I do not believe there are twenty individuals

who possess from J610,000 to £20,000 ; the greater part

of the proprietors are all in debt ; the ryots are all in

debt ; and their debts are generally incurred to exacting

bankers. I have known in my experience hundreds of

ryots paying 60 per cent.'

"If space allowed, it would be easy to add to these

testimonies others of the same kind to almost any

extent. But the utter wretchedness of the peasantry in

the Lower Provinces is a fact that few will care to

dispute.

" The Magistrate of Patna, recently reporting on the

condition of the people of Behar, says :

—

" ' The expression, " living from hand to mouth," has

assumed for me a more definite and tangible, though less

satisfactory, meaning than it ever had before. I have

been into and over the houses of hundreds of the poorer

classes, and have seen how they live and what they eat.

I could not have believed, had I not seen it for myself, how

abject is their poverty. . . . Many of them do not know


what it is to have two meals a day ; and most of them

do not know, when they rise in the morning, whether

they will get one full meal or not. Wages have remained

as before, while the prices of all kinds offood have increased.

Over-population seems to be an effectual bar to any

further material improvement that might otherwise be

brought about by increased means of communication, by

education, and other similar means.'

" To this distressing picture we add Mr. O'Donnell's

official report on the condition of the people in the

district of Sarun :

—

" ' It is, however, a fact that the average size of the

farmri does not exceed five beegahs (a beegah is rather

more than an English acre), and that seven persons,

according to the census, constitute a household. The

average value of the crops produced in one year, taking

good land with bad, on a single beegah is Rs. 25, of

which Es. 3 is payable in rent. Therefore, amongst the

poorer classes (that^ is, some 600,000 persons), a family

has to subsist on Es. 102 a year, or only a rupee and

four annas each a month

—

i.e. a little more than two

shillings a month. Yet even this condition represents

a state of things much more favourable than half of

the poorer classes, or 300,000 persons, can obtain.

Tens of thousands of them have not more than two

beegahs of land.

" * There are, besides, the landless day-labourers, who

number from 10 to 15 per cent, of the inhabitants of

every village. How they continue to subsist in years

of scarcity .... is a more difficult question than most


people are prepared to answer. The fact is, that the

possessors of a larger kind of farms, with areas of from

fifteen to thirty beegahs, hnow the importance of protecting

this class alive, and also of preventing them from emigrating

through distress, and give them just enough food to keep body

and soul together,'

" The testimony of Mr. Toynbee and Mr. O'Donnell is

abundantly confirmed by Sir Ashley Eden, the present

Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. He writes as follows :

—" ' In the . . . report of the Commissioner of the

Bhangulpore division, a lamentable account is given by

the sub-divisional officer of the state of things in the

Banka sub-division ; two-thirds of which are leased out

in farms to non-resident speculators, while, in the re-

maining one-third, at least half of the landlords also

are non-resident. The farms usually run for seven

years, and are only renewed on the payment of a heavy

and increasing premium, which falls entirely on the

ryots. The tenants are said to have no rights, to he subject

to the exaction of forced labour, to illegal distraint, and to

numerous illegal cesses, while the collections are made by

an unscrupulous host of up-country (baiUffs). There

can be no doubt whatever that the combined influence

of zemindars and land speculators have ground the ryots of

Behar down to a state of extreme depression and misery.'

" Leaving Behar, I will pass on to Orissa. What do

we find to be the state of the peasantry here ? I quote

the testimony of an experienced Civil officer. He cal-

culates that a ryot in tolerably comfortable circumstances,

after the sale of his crops, and the payment of rent, may


find himself in possession of Rs. 57, with which to

support himself and his family during the year—say

ten shillings a month. This is not a large income to

subsist upon, but the ryot is very far from retaining the

entire amount undiminished. There prevail in Orissa a

multitude, which no man can number, of what are called

'illegal cesses,' but which are very regularly levied,

none the less, and these are described by our Civil officer

as follows :

—

" ' The zemindar comes first with his demand for his

four annas here, and six there ; so much for a son's

marringe, so much more for a daughter. The universal

Festival of the Car, in which the unwieldy ruth of

Juggunath . s dragged half a mile along a road, in order

that it may be dragged back again the week after, is

made the occasion of a levy of one rupee a head from all

the peasantry of a populous estate. This levy will pro-

duce five thousand rupees, of which barely five hundred

will be spent on the purpose for which it was ostensibly

raised. Then the zemindar has had to pay seventy

rupees income tax, and forthwith tikkhus is collected

at two annas in the rupee from every cultivator. Or

the magistrate has made a Ferry-fund road through the

estate, and though the zemindar has received ten times

the value of the land in compensation, yet he finds it

necessary to recoup his imaginary losses by taking one

anna in the rupee from all his tenants. But beside these

general and financial measures there are also special and

personal inflictions. A neighbour's cattle may have

eaten half a field of paddy, and the ryot carries off the


offending cattle to the pound, whence they are only

released on payment of four annas a head. Off goes the

owner of the cattle to the zemindar to complain, and by

dint of a judicious present secures his interference. The

ryot who so rashly impounded his neighbour's cattle is

seized, brought up, and made to pay double the Govern-

ment fine. ... By these means, supplemented by the

zealous action of a horde of naibs, gomashtas, peons,

and dalals {i.e. servants of the zemindar engaged in

rent-collecting), and completed by the Brahmins, whose

dole and presents must on no account be left unpaid,

our typical ryot will be lucky if he save in the course of

the year twenty rupees out of his fifty-seven. . . . Such

is the picture of a man removed above the lowest grade

of poverty. But this lowest grade, what of it ? What

of the man who tills with borrowed bullocks his Uttle

patch of one or two acres, whose wife, clad in one filthy

rag, scarcely sufficient for decency, labours at unwomanly

tasks during the long day to add a few farthings to the

scanty store, and who, beat with fatigue, and prematurely

old from want and exposure, may be seen at nightfall

picking the tasteless leaves of wild spinach from the

margin of the fetid tank to eke out the unwholesome

meal of coarse rice, which must suflBce her and her

starving family ? Not even their squahd hut, with its

forlorn inhabitants, escapes the lynx-eye of the piyada

(zemindar's cess-collector). They must pay their quota

to swell the flowing stream of extortion ; there is the

lean cow, sell that and pay ; there is one brass drinking-

vessel, he will take that in lieu of the demand."


" This terrible picture of the life of an Orissa peasant

appeared some years ago in one of the Calcutta journals,

and it had the effect of inducing the Bengal Government

to institute an official inquiry into the levy of ' illegal

cesses.' It was discovered that the zemindars in the

district of Balasore vsrere accustomed to exact from their

tenants no less than eleven 'illegal cesses,' levied at

fixed periods, and seventeen ' casual exactions on special

occasions.' The collector at Balasore described the

process as follows :

—

" ' Some zemindars take even more than these ; but

the above, though not exhausting the list, are the prin-

cipal. They are not all taken in all estates, but many

of them are universal. In addition to this, several

zemindars are in the habit of making their ryots supply

them with cloth and other articles at rates far below the

market price. Khilwan Sing, who is by far the loorst of

all, lends his ryots one rupee's worth of rice, at a time when

prices are high, say eight seers for one rupee, and at a time

when prices are low, after harvest, he takes one rupee's worth

of rice, say sixtyfour seers, from them, thus getting sixty-four

seers for eight lent, or eight times the original quantity. This

he defends as quite fair. ... It appeared to me that all

these zemindars were lamentably and surprisingly igno-

rant of the state of affairs existing in their estates. Most

of them leave the management of details to their sub-

ordinates or agents, a class whose rapacity is notorious

in all parts of India where they exist. The zemindar

only knows that when he wants money he tells his agents

to raise it from the ryots under some pretext or other,


and raised it is accordingly. ... I may also add that

the condition of the ryots ... is miserable in the ex-

treme. Their houses have not been repaired for three

years ; they have barely enough cattle to plough with

;

they are scantily clothed and insufficiently fed, and from

sheer want many of them are now working as coolies

on canals, though they have enough land to support

them, if they were only allowed to enjoy the fruits

thereof.'

" Let us now turn from Orissa to Bengal proper . . .

thus described by a Bengal Civilian :

—

" ' The zemiudar and lyot are as king and people

;

they are as monarch and subject. What the zemindar

asks, the ryot will give ; what the zemindar orders, the

ryot will obey. The landlord will tax his tenant for

every extravagance that avarice, ambition, pride, vanity,

or other intemperance may suggest. He will tax him

for the kheeraki of his naib, for the salary of his ameen,

for the payment of his income-tax, for the purchase of an

elephant for his own use, for the cost of the stationery of

his establishment, for the cost of printing the forms of

his rent-receipts, for the payment of his expenses to

fight the neighbouring indigo-planter, for the payment

of his fine when he has been convicted of an offence by

the magistrate. The milkman gives his milk, the oil-

man his oil, the weaver his cloths, the confectioner his

sweetmeats, the fisherman his fish. The zemindar fines

his ryots for a festival, for a birth, for a funeral, for a

marriage ; he levies black mail on them when an affray

is committed, when one man lives clandestinely with hia

THE LABOUB QUESTION. 203

neighbour's wife, when an abortion is procured. Heestablishes his private pound, and reahses five annas

for every head of cattle that is caught trespassing on

the ryot's crops. . . . The cesses pervade the whole

zemindari system. In every zemindari there is a naib

(deputy), under the naib there are gomashtas (agents),

under the gomashta there are piyadas (bailiffs). The

naib exacts a perquisite for adjusting accounts annually,

at two pice, or sometimes one anna, for every rupee he

may collect. The naib and the gomashtas take their

share in the regular cesses ; they have other cesses of

their own. The piyadas, when they are sent to summon

defaulting ryots, exact from them four or five annas a

day. It is in evidence before the Indigo Commission,

that in one year a zemindari naib, in the district of

Nuddea, extorted ten thousand rupees from his master's

ryots. It is within our own knowledge that, quite

lately, a zemindari naib received a salaami (i.e. congratu-

latory present) of one thousand rupees. . . . This

system of cesses has eaten, like an incurable disease, into

the social organisation of the country. An energetic

Government might have grappled with the question, and

succeeded in abolishing a system which, though for-

bidden by law, yet flourishes in undisturbed luxuriance;

yet no one raises a hand on behalf of the ryots ; no one

speaks a word in their interest. ... It seems almost

as though they were doomed never to be emancipated

from their present degrading life.'"

Such is the testimony to the condition of the Indian

ryot. I would ask the reader to remember that (as


Colonel Osborn says in closing his article) these particu-

lars are not those of the belief or experiences of the

Statesman staff, but extracts from the reports of Govern-

ment officers, who, by reason of the high positions they

occupied, in thus showing-up the misery of the Indian

peasantry, had no need to fear retribution for telling

the unpleasant truth. It may happen that this book will

be seen by civilians who believe only in the unalloyed

happiness and prosperity of Her Majesty's subjects in

India. Let me impress upon any of these, that the repre-

sentations here made are those of their own faction—the

Lieutenant-Governor ofBengal, the Lieutenant-Governor

of the Punjab, and other high officials ; and I think I

may reasonably add, that it will be useless to say that

the facts given are inaccurate. Had they been brought

to public notice only as the evidences of the Statesman

writers, they would have been scouted in most official

circles in India ; but, as it is, it seems to me that they

must be accepted—or else the high officials mentioned

be charged with misrepresentation, and the Government

service admitted, by members of it, to be liable to gross

inaccuracies—an admission which, 1 imagine, but few

civilians would care to make. It will, therefore, be quite

useless to ignore these official testimonies, notwithstand-

ing their exceeding unpalatableness.

Now, I believe I may say that the state of things here

shown up will very greatly surprise the tea-planting

community. The majority of the planters at the present

moment are men who have gone from England to join

tea properties, and their Indian experience has been

THE LABOUR QUBSTTON. 205

exclusively a tea experience. In this way, their know-

ledge of the condition of Indian natives has necessarily

been formed only by the condition of the tea estate

cooly, and they would have been able only to believe

that, considering his habits and needs, this individual

was exceedingly well off, and it is a cause for no surprise

whatever that such a belief should be held. I think I

may say that, because of this, tea-planters, as a body,

have been very warm supporters of the (I hope now

partly exploded) theory of the comparatively blissful

existence of the peoples of India, as subjects of the

Queen-Empress. In so far as experiences in the tea

districts go, the British rule in India is decidedly very

beneficial for the natives; but after the reports I have

quoted, I need hardly say that this does not apply

very much farther afield.

Given, then, that the official reports are accurate. I

have not confined the selection to reference to Bengal,

from which place planters mostly look for labour, and

which, also, seems to be in a worse condition as regards

the position of the ryot to the zemindar than most of the

other places mentioned. But I have purposely given

reference to other parts of India—Oude, Behar, Orissa

—

to show, in thus reviewing several reports, that Sir

Robert Egerton was perfectly correct when remarkiiig in

his own, that "the circumstances which led to its (the

Deccan Eyots Belief Bill) being introduced, seemed to

be of such general prevalence throughout India."

Tea-planters have been considered brutal, and unfit to

be trusted with labour, unless under periodical Grovern-


mental supervision ; they have been opposed by succes-

sive Governments, and compelled to spend hundreds of

rupees for labour when tens should have sufficed ; they

have been harassed on every side, and negatively con-

sidered conscienceless in their treatment of coolies ; and

now here, under the direct auspices of the Government

that has hindered them, there is revealed, by the

reports of the officials of that very Government, a state

of things far worse than that which obtains in Ireland at

the present moment, and a condition of virtual bondage

of the ryot in relation to his zemindar, which is un-

equalled by the servility of the Turkish peasantry under

the corrupt yoke of the Ottoman Empire. Where

Government has been making it annually more costly

for tea-planters to obtain labour, where stringent, and

even more stringent regulations have been passed,

building up still greater difficulties around the labour

supply, there has existed for the ryot—the man the

planter wanted—a life of chronic starvation, of misery

and wretchedness awful to think upon, a style of cloth-

ing well nigh too scanty for decency, and abominably

foul, a mental and physical bondage to the zemindar

and Marwaree, who were countenanced by Government

in foreclosing on mortgages effected at 50 and 75 per

cent, per annum interest—countenanced by the Govern-

ment which compelled the wretched ryot so to mortgage

his holding, through not waiting the maturity of his

crops for the payment of his rent—and which, on the

testimony of its own officials, has been making the life

of the ryot, even in non-famine times, a misery and a


curse to himself, and certainly to the Government which

ruled him, which withheld consideration for his position,

and sanctioned the then unavoidable bondage to the

usurious Marwaree, a blot, a disgrace, and a crime. And

this has been the average life of the ryot in times when

his harvests have been favourable. His condition

during a famine visitation has been short and simple

—

death. Such have been—such alas ! are—the results of

the actions of an enUghtened Government, which was

most particular in legislating for coolies when they were

leaving the inferno of their own homes—like which,

because of the starvation-bondage to the Marwaree or

zemindar, there was no other place—the Government

which neglected the people when they were near at hand

and in their native places, neglected them even until, as

famine reports show, they died by millions, without a

hand being put out early enough to help the weaker of

them. And now that they are wanted by men who will

readily do everything for them, the enlightened Govern-

ment, proving the old truth that absence makes the

heart grow, oh ! so very much fonder, rushes into legis-

lation, becomes suddenly aware that when in the service

of responsible agents coolies really must be looked after,

and lays down rules as to dress and sanitation en route ;

and as the poor wretches have been starved thus far in

iheir existence (vide reports quoted) when under Govern-

mental supervision and paying rent to the Government,

in a truly Pecksniffian spirit the same Government now

says, "Feed my sheep," draws up a dietary scale for

feeding coolies on the steamers, which causes them to

208 THE TEA INDUSTEY W INDIA.

die by hundreds every year, because the food is too rich

for their debihtated stomachs (such is the medical

testimony), which debility has come about when the

people were being rack-rented by an enlightened

Government, or made over to the tender mercies of the

Mawaree or the zemindar. Such is the Government

that has opposed the planter and weU-nigh baffled him

at every struggle for labour, and that has feared

he might not treat the people fairly. Such has been

the whited sepulchre of a bureaucratic Government,

which, being outside seemingly fair and pure, was inside

—in its own work—full of corruption and all abomi-

nations.

I turn now from noticing these Government reports,

to the summary of Parliamentary business as reported in

the London daily papers on August 19th, 1881.

" The Marquis of Hartington, in reply to Mr.

O'Donnell, said that it was the case that, according to

the report for 1879 on coolie emigration in Assam, the

mortality rate amongst indentured coolies in two districts

exceeded 8 per cent., and 9 per cent, in another. Indeed,

in two gardens, it was considerably higher during the

second half of the same year. The average death-rate

of the district was 6-68 per cent., which, although a

considerable improvement over several other years, was

still a high rate. It had been pointed out by the Secre-

tary of State to the Government of India that, with a

view of lessening the evil, efforts should be made wiih a

view of imp-oving the condition of the coolies." (The italics

are mine.)


It would seem from this that tea-planters are beset by

the authorities both in England and India. " Efforts

be made with a view of improving the condition of the

coolies." May not tea-planters (in all meekness, as

becomes them), suggest to the authorities—wherever

they may be—that a little consideration, and a few efforts

to improve the condition of the ryot in almost every

part of India, would be to more purpose than legislating

for people who are infinitely better off than when in

their own country, and who have aU things they could

reasonably desire ? " There are none so blind as those

who will not see "; and here is the enlightened Grovern-

ment rushing into laws for people who are now well

looked after, and living in actual comfort and prosperity,

but who were grossly neglected and overlooked in their

own country, and overwhelmed in the misery and

wretchedness sanctioned by Government, when they

were in their own homes. How beneficial might be

-the result, if Government would cease squinting at the

imaginary mote in the tea-planter's eye, and study

the beam in its own. " Improving the condition of the

coolies " ! Would that it were possible to get some

disinterested person to report on the respective condi-

tions of ryots paying rent to Government, and coolies

working for tea-planters, as a basis for ascertaining where

existed the need of " improving the condition of the

coolies." I write thus, because there is absolutely no

parallel in the tea districts to that which is officially

reported to be the state of affairs in many parts of India.

Where, as has been shown, ryots rise in the morning in

14


all uncertainty as to whether they will have one full meal

during the day or not, where they make up the existence

allowance of food with wild spinach, or are thrown back

upon deadly hatua, in the tea districts they have rice

provided at a given rate, under compulsion from the

Government, and if the bazaar rate is less than that

stipulated in the agreement, they get their grain from

the bazaar. Thus, Rs. 3 per maund being the agree-

ment price for rice, when it costs more outside, coolies

look to the factory, and when less, go to the bazaar or

villages. There is no difficulty for them as regards food;

and fish and vegetables are plentiful. If they are sick

and quite unable to work, the factory feeds them. As

regards clothing, remembering that Bengalis patronise a

scanty garb, the tea districts certainly do not show

(amongst imported coolies) the clothing represented by

" a rag too scanty for decency." Certainly cleanliness is

often wanting where clothing is ample ; but against the

people who wear the minimum amount of clothing, many

may be found who dress well. At the times of various

festivals, coolies come out in most elaborate costumes,

and with umbrella, turban, and shoes complete ; their

children often are decked with silver ornaments, and their

women nicely clad. These are tea-estate coolies; people

who in their own country had not a soul to call their

own. As regards houses, the average Bengali is easily

pleased. In the reports mentioned, his home has been

described as "a shelter upon supports " ; in the tea

districts it is a healthy, rain-proof house, built on high,

well-drained land, and repaired when needing attention.


1

And then pay-day—^the day that to the Indian ryot

means anxiety and heart-sinking and a visit to the dread

Marwaree ? In the tea districts it is all the other way.

The coolie, having done his work, goes to his Sahib and

draws his pay;

pay-day to the coolie being one of

receipt and not of disbursement. I have seen new coolies

who were of the labouring, and not of the cultivating,

class in Bengal, on receiving their first month's pay, look

at it in a way so vague as to indicate a want of compre-

hension. Likely enough they have never before had so

much money at once to call their own ; they have earned it,

only they have never received it. Many other points show

up in the cooly's favour. There are no famine times in

tea. The cooly has only to do his work to receive his

pay, grow fat, and save money. Drought, zemindari

taxation, Marwari usury, dying cattle, gomashtas, piya-

das, Juggernath cess, rent-day, seed-time, and harvest

—

all these things that mean, at the very least, anxiety to

the general Indian ryot, do not enter at all into the life

of the tea-estate cooly. He has no rent to pay ; and if

his house need repair, there is no occasion for him to

trouble himself about it—it will be done for him. Whenhe is sick, the doctor attends him ; and even should he

die, there will be no expense to his relatives for his burial.

How much of this can be said for ryots paying rent to

their zemindar or to the Grovernment ? How much

representation is required to show that coolies are infi-

nitely better off in the tea districts than in their own

homes, and that planters' employes do not need legislation,

as do the people who pay Government rent ?

14 «


Now as to the death-rate. This is one of the comer-

stones of Governmental interference in the planter's

labour question. The Marquis of Hartington says that

the annual rate of mortality in Assam is 5*68 per cent.,

or, say, 51 per thousand. I cannot at the moment place

my hand upon a newspaper cutting I somewhere have

filed ; but I know that in the north of England, or in

Scotland, the death-rate varies from 27 to 31 per

thousand. I firmly beheve in the sacredness of life,

and that the existence of each living soul—unless manpervert his life—is essential and dear to its fellows,

equally among all nations.* Consequently I take it

that coolies on tea estates have something more to live

for than merely the convenience of their employers, and

that, for either reason, their life is valuable, and should

be protected. The Assam mortality rate proves an

equivalent of five deaths to three in some parts of the

United Kingdom. Taking into consideration the fact

that one place possesses (or ought to) all the advantages

of sanitation and a healthy climate, it seems to me that

there is reason for very general satisfaction in knowing

that deaths in Assam are not far more numerous.

When it is remembered that all persons in India

—

no matter of what colour—are liable to sickness more

* Perhaps I had better explain this. I say " essential anddear to its fellows." I do not mean that the lives of, say, the

Assam tea-planters are essential to Nagas ; but that (say) a Nagafather is as essential to his Naga children, as the tea-planter, as a

son, is to his father's happiness. This is the essentiality of

kindred.


frequently, and with less hope of recovery, than in

England, surely the proportion of five to three is by no

means excessive, and it ought not to form any barrier or

obstacle to planters' labour operations. When in Assam

I frequently tried to find out, but without success,

whether any return was ever made of the mortality

in villages, or amongst Europeans. All that I was able

to ascertain was that there was no such return. Now,

if 9 per cent, of death-rate (which I think is the garden

closing percentage), result in a factory being abandoned

and much money and labour lost, why should not village

mortality returns be called for, and the places shut to

settlers in a like event ? As far as my own inquiries

went, village death-rates seemed considerably in excess

of those of tea-factories ; but, strange to say, Government

does not step in and turn the villagers out. It seems

a paradox—but when natives live in swampy places and

have no medical attendance, they are allowed to do as

they please without any inquiries being made as to their

well-being or otherwise ; but when tea-planters do their

utmost to make coolies' habitations healthy, engage

doctors and spare no cost in medicines, then Government

steps in, calls for returns, and says that unless the death-

rate is kept within a certain percentage, the factory will be

closed. Yet all the while, often enough, on the boun-

dary of tea gardens, where the high land ceases, villagers

live and endure all the ills that flesh is heir to, and die

off like Norfolk Howards under somebody's powder. Or

if several European managers die at a factory, or one

leaves after another through the unhealthiness of the


place, Government does not hear of it, or hearing, takes

no notice. The first operations " of tea estates must

necessarily be unhealthy for all concerned ; but an

increasing industry ought not to be checked because of

the first inconveniences. The European risks his life

for his salary ; it is surely no greater hardship for the

cooly to work on the same terms. It would be as well,

perhaps, if Government would remember Indian wars in

thus obstructing planters' progress. People have ciied

out a great deal about the expenditure of money in the

late Afghan war, but not many of them have cried out

in like manner about the awful waste of human life;

and the few who did so cry out did not cause the war to

be stopped. War, and its inevitable mortality, is legiti-

mate when under the direction of a Government—mor-

tality amongst coolies, obtained at considerable cost, and

working indirectly in the interests of commercial peace

and prosperity, calls forth the interference of the Govern-

ment, which may shut up a garden. The legitimacy of

war is a wide problem, and hardly bears on the labour

question ; so I will say nothing more of it, excepting

that if Indian wars have been considered justifiable with

the results obtained, occasional heavy death-rates in the

tea districts ought not to be detrimental to the planters'

interests, because the work which, perhaps, results in the

death of several coolies, is virtually benefiting those whoremain. Every acre of land cleared and planted with

tea in India helps to reduce the natural unhealthiness of

the cHmate ; and where gardens are opened in particu-

larly unhealthy districts, it would really be wiser to

THK LABOUR QUESTION. 215

encourage their rapid extension, and so materially lessen

the unhealthiness, than to shut them up and retain

them as dens of malaria, to vitiate the atmosphere

all around them.

In the Parliamentary Report I have elsewhere quoted

(August 19th, 1881), the Marquis of Hartington said:

" It was proposed, amongst other things, by a Bill before

the Bengal Council, to extend the maximum service of

coolies to five years, and this was one of the recom-

mendations made by a Commission which had recently

reported on the Bengal Emigration Act." This is cer-

tainly a step in the right direction. I believe I shall be

correct in saying that West Indian planters have for a

long time received East Indian (Bengal and Tamil)

coolies on five-year agreements ; and it seems strange

that tea-planters should have been restricted to a three-

years' contract, when the coolies were so much nearer

their homes. Five-year agreements ought to act satis-

factorily for all concerned.

The present conditions of obtaining coolies, and the

red-tapeism connected with their journey to tea localities,

is extremely far-fetched, and is almost devoid of any real

good. Anxious as planters always are to do their utmost

for labourers, it would be strange if they did not feel

that as the cherished proteges of Government, a great

deal of unnecessary fuss is made with coolies, especially

in the districts where they are recruited. I would here

notice the vast difference existing between the Grovern-

ment stipulations regarding Indian coolies moving from

one part of their own country to another, and the

216 THE TEA INDUSTET IK INDIA.

requirements for emigrants leaving England. As a rule,

wherever there is a good field open for emigrants, the

home Government gives all the aid in its power to persons

thinking of going to it. Agents are appointed to repre-

sent the place, advertisements are inserted in the papers,

and in most parts of the kingdom the post-offices exhibit

notices regarding it. If a man be anxious to settle, he

can do so with the greatest ease as regards official super-

vision ; indeed, the action of the Government is merely

to see (through its agent) that the man is a fit one to go

abroad, and forthwith a passage is given him at a reduced

rate. He has not to go before a magistrate to be ques-

tioned, and frightened, and registered, and vaccinated and

passed on to another official, &c. &c. A code of laws has

been passed for the conduct of affairs on emigrant vessels,

reports have to be furnished, and an inspection made at

the port of destination ; but all men and women are

perfectly free to go whithersoever they will. If Govern-

ment consider such regulations as now exist sufficient

for emigrants going, say, thousands of miles from home,

surely the same might suffice for Indian coolies going

only a few hundreds, and not out of India ! While I do

not think slightingly of cooly life, I must say that it is

a far easier thing for a cooly to set up advantageously

as a "stranger in a strange land" in the tea districts,

than for an European to do so in the Colonies. The

Indian Government has a food scale for exporters of

coolies to keep to, and calls for reports from medical

officers in charge of labour batches, as is the case in

English emigrant skips ; but the local nonsense of regis-


tration is confined to India, and used with people who

are only going to another district of their own country.

I have several times endeavoured to ascertain as to what

practical good this district registration and signing and

countersigning of recruiters' licenses was. It avails the

planter nothing when seeking to recover absconding

coolies. The countersigning magistrates, too, are some-

times very arbitrary. Cases are on record of recruiters'

agreements being cancelled on the ground that they

entered into them to work on the factory named, and

not to tra\el about looking for labourers. Is not this

metaphorically straining at gnats ? Using a recruiter

at all represents double expenditure ; for his labour

is lost to the garden, and his travelling expenses

incurred.

There is good reason for planters looking to the Gov-

ernment of India for help in the industry in which they

are engaged, for in addition to individual and personal

interests, they are doing good work for the country, in

developing its resources at the peril of their health. It

should be remembered, also, that as a rule the position

of the planter is a singularly unprotected one. He lives

away in the jungle, with very little save the fact of being

an European to protect him, and year after year he thus

lives a life of risk and danger. An illustration of the

manner in which he can be attacked—annihilated, I was

nearly saying—was recently given in the horrible murder

of Mr. Peter Blyth in Cachar. The Nagas simply

walked into the factory at night, killed the manager

and eleven coolies, and went away. The majority of


tea estates might be assailed as easily ; and tea-planters

virtually form a frontier guard for the people in the

plains, and are thereby assisting in maintaining peace in

their respective districts.

In previous pages I have dwelt at some length on the

dreadful condition of the ryot in various parts of India.

I have also tried to show the injustice of the Govern-

ment in taking the view they do take of the tea industry.

In Chapter VIII. I have said that it was not logical to

condemn anything as bad without showing the substi-

tute. I therefore wish to show that the Government has

it in its power to help the ryots who are suffering in their

respective districts, and to help tea-planters at the same

time. The condition of the ryot is bad enough to call

for more extensive legislation than my knowledge of

India is adequate even to suggest ; but it seems to methat in the tea districts there is open a field for labour

from which much relief might be obtained. I do not

recommend the ryots flocking indiscriminately to the tea

districts ; for emigration in such a form would be unwise.

I do not even recommend tea estates as an alternative

labour-field for unsuccessful ryots, because their number

is gieater than could possibly be maintained in the tea

localities ; but I certainly do mention tea districts as

palliative fields, in which a great demand for labour exists.

Now, I think the general character of the official testi-

mony will have shown in how many places there has

existed labour which was both surplus and unprovided

for. But even more than what may be almost called

the chronic distress, do the famines of past years show


what fields have been open for obtaining labour for the

tea districts, had the Government been active in putting

into force one of the first axioms of political economy

—

to save life. These famines have been—in the North-

West Provinces in 1860 ; in Ori^;sa in 1866, when the

awful scarcity first aroused the attention of the British

nation to these terrible visitations ; in 1868 upwards

of a million human beings perished of hunger in Kaj-

pootana ; in 1870 there was scarcity, verging upon

famine, throughout the North-west ; in 1873 occurred

the well-known famine in Behar ; in 1877 famine carried

off a third of the population of Madras and Mysore, and

extended to a portion of the provinces under the BombayGovernment ; in 187 /-78 the Khureef harvest failed

throughout the North-west, and upwards of a million

men and women perished during the winter months of

cold, disease, and hunger.

In the palliative degree to which I have referred, I

think some thousands of people who have died in the

course of these dreadful calamities might have been

saved, and still alive, had Government been vigorous in

taking them out of the afflicted districts, instead of keep-

ing them there on an existence allowance. Although so

doing would possibly have increased the death-rate of

tea estates, many lives would have been saved at all

events, and the famine devastations curtailed. In addi-

tion to lives thus saved, money would also have been

saved to the State, in a twofold measure. Eelief during

the famine would not have been necessary ; and the Bills

which are constantly passing through the Council for


distressed ryots and others would not have applied to

those who had left for the tea districts. Such relief

Bills are constantly being introduced—the Deccan Eyots'

Belief Bill, Jhansi Zemindars' Belief Bill, Oude Talook-

dars' Belief Bill, &c.

In the agricultural districts it is customary for people

who are not of the actual labouring class, to cultivate

land, not as a speculation, but for the maintenance of

themselves and families ; and such people, as a rule,

work only for themselves. Their love for ancestral

holdings is very great ; and it generally seems that they

would prefer starving on, to listening to the tea-estate

recruiter's roseate version of how things are in the " cha

muluk." But, year by year, from the want of scientific

cultivation and the inability of the ryot to manure his

holding, land in many districts is becoming poorer and

poorer, and the condition of the tillers of the soil worse

and worse. Now, in such circumstances. Government

certainly might use its influence to represent to the ryots

and labouring classes in agricultural districts, that ample

food, good pay, and a total absence of Marwarees and

Zemindars, were obtainable in the tea districts ; and

Government might organise emigration for the planter's

benefit. Central depots could be estabUshed in Calcutta,

and garden agents be allowed to select their men (as is

now the custom with cooly contractors), paying Govern-

ment the cost of conveyance from the respective districts,

together with that of depot feeding. The result of this

would be, that where at the present time families are

huddled together in numbers which their small patches of


land cannot possibly properly support, with some of the

people removed, those remaining would have a better

chance of a more cheerful existence, as regarded a

sufficiency of food. Also, as famines, unfortunately,

seem to be becoming somewhat regular in their courses,

nearly each year bringing one of some extent or other

in one part of India—with the population thus thinned

by Government emigration, the distress in the different

districts would not be so great, as the available food

would be divided between less people, and where Govern-

ment aid was given, its recipients would be fewer. At

the present time the usual practice during famines is to

establish Government relief depots, and to put the people

on to making roads. Now it stands to reason, that if

natives know they have only to get badly enough off

through famine for Government to step in and feed

them, they will sit down with exemplary patience—the

joint outcome of debility, laziness, and kismet—and wait

the advent of Government representatives ; and all efforts

to persuade people at such a time to leave for the tea

districts would be futile. He would be a rare and a

very queer Hindoo, who would go from his home to work

in a distant locality, when he knew that Government

would feed him in his own place if he could manage to

keep life together long enough. Then as to roads.

Eoads are not undivided blessings in agricultural dis-

tricts ; they certainly let the grain carts in when there

is a scarcity, but they lead to a market when the famine

is over, and the Marwaree has grabbed the ryot's first

crop. Where a good road does not exist, there is not

222 The tea industry in india.

much inducement to take grain ; but with a good one,

crops are easily realised upon.

During the Southern Indian famine, tea-planters made

offers to the Government, through the Indian press, to

engage coolies who might be landed in Calcutta ; but

hardly any notice was taken of the matter. People

might have been conveyed from Madras to Calcutta by

contract for, at most, Es. 5 per head, and put in good

hands, by which their future would have caused no con-

cern ; as it was, they were allowed to remain in their

homes, and were fed by the Government ; and those who

live until another famine will ^have a pretty good notion

as to what Government will do for them, if they manage

to hold on long enough. I would here just say that I

consider it to be the clear duty of the State to provide

for people who are starving ; but I also beheve permanent

prevention in emigration to be better than temporary cure

by relief bills. In the different famines I have men-

tioned. Government might have drafted natives from the

oppressed districts to Calcutta, for tea-planters' use : they

would have been gladly taken. Some of the Madrassi

coolies are not particularly well-suited for Bengal tea

factories ; but I have known them to be gradually built

up into useful men. North-west Provinces people, too,

are still less so; but it would surely be no worse to

make them over to tea-planters on the chance of their

living, by having every attention paid them, than to let

them remain in their own districts on a much greater

chance of dymg ! Particularly would planters have been

glad had labour been thus supphed during the earlier


stages of the Behar famine. Of course, in cases of

famine coolies being sent to tea estates, a margin

would have to be allowed in the death-rate. A short

food-allowance often sows the seed of death in a cooly

that all after-care and good feeding cannot eradicate.

In all the thannahs of districts which are likely to

be afflicted by drought, G-overnment might easily order

to be put up notices giving particulars of work and pay

on tea estates, explaining the Governmental control of

the movement, advocating the people's acceptance of

the chance, and follow this up by establishing local

depots for collecting the people previous to transference

to Calcutta. A few thousands going thus to help tea-

planters, even if complete holdings were abandoned,

would be as nothing to the revenues of the agricultural

districts where millions remained to pay rent ; and where

members of families emigrated, they would be well looked

after, and in their going be benefiting those who

remained, as the land left to their kinsfolk would have

fewer people to support.

There is also another way in which Government might

help themselves, and planters too. The frequent lay

of land in the tea districts—at all events in Assam,

Cachar, and Sylhet—is alternate stretches of low land

suitable for rice, and high land fitted for tea. (The

miasma from the former rises to the latter, and brings

out leaf-flushes in the garden, and fever ones in the

bungalow.) In many cases, particularly in Assam,

there are enormous stretches of land well suited for

rice, which may almost be said never to have been

224 THE TEA INDUSTBT IN INDU.

inhabited. Invariably Assam planters have to obtain

rice from Bengal, although on the borders of their

grants they have land which, if cultivated, could supply

a large part of India with rice. The Assamese have,

if any, very little market for grain, excepting that made by

tea-estate coolies, and beyond these sales they only cul-

tivate for their own requirements. By working for a few

months in the twelve, they get sufficient grain to keep

them during the year—a rather different picture from

the official reports previously quoted. It would be an

easy matter for the Chief Commissioner of Assam to call

on each Assistant or Deputy Commissioner in Assam,

Cachar, and Sylhet, to obtain from each Mouzadar in

his district particulars of vacant rice-lands, waste or

abandoned. Into these. Government might bring ryots

from different parts of India, where people are too thick

or the land too poor, and if not disposed to do this for

nothing—that is to say, at the expense of the State

—

the cost of conveyance might be recovered in an assess-

ment per acre {ox poorah), distributed over three or four

years. Assam land is particularly fertile ; and under

Government auspices, struggling ryots might soon

experience as much benefit from emigration as English

farmers do in going to New Zealand, AustraUa, or

America. People so brought up would only need to

work on their crops for a few months annually ; in the

other time they would be able to give their services to

tea-planters (as Bengali villagers in Cachar do at the

present time, on a small scale), and who would be

but too glad of their help.


Of course, it will surprise no one when I say that

these propositions seem perfectly feasible to myself. If

G-overnment would do away with the troublesome routine

which at present obtains in the labour districts, and would

encourage emigration by organising it, either directly to

the planter through Calcutta depots, or to the vacant

rice lands in the tea districts, the loss of rent in one

place would be made up by its payment in another, poor

land in overcrowded districts would have a chance of

improvement, families on it—being smaller—would be

better fed, waste lands would be opened out—at all

times a desirable event—and tea-planters would be

helped. Or looking at the matter exclusively from a

planter's point of view, advancement in the tea industry

would be materially assisted, by drafting off from

oppressed districts a few thousands of folk who now

live by starving.

There is now the last point to be noticed in con-

nexion with this question. Coolies arriving on tea estates

generally seem very stupid at first. This is not to be

wondered at considering the state of bondage in which

they have lived. Old coolies on tea estates are sensible,

rational men. I never yet knew a cooly who had saved

money to be in other respects a fool. Life on tea-

factories—the regular food, good pay, and comfortable

housing—unquestionably tell most beneficially on the

mental construction of coolies. We know the old adage,

that a certain class of folk and their money are soon

parted. Tea-factory experience shows that matters work

conversely, too, and in a marked manner ; for a man

15


who certainly seemed nearly allied to a fool on arrival

at a factory, always develops into a sensible fellow by the

time he has a little money to call his own. This result

is surely a good one, and most beneficial, especially

when compared with the servility that often comes of

zemindari labour. The result is open to easy proof ; and

it forms, I consider, another link in the chain of good

reason which exists for Governmental countenance to

tea-planters' labour needs.

The Government seems all along to have regarded the

tea industry in a biassed light. It is easy to imagine to

what extent tea-growing might have advanced had there

been fewer difficulties in the way of obtaining labourers.

There is money enough available to extend the in-

dustry to far greater lengths, when the labour embargo

is removed ; and the increased industry means grist to

the State revenues, which will be in no way inconve-

nienced by financial help. Many people believe that

tea-planting even now is only in its infancy. Let the

Government remove the mill-stone of labour difficulties,

and we shall soon see the infant rapidly advancing into

youth and vigorous manhood, with no uncertain progress.

Prohibitive interference in respect to labour retards the

planter, and withholds available help to Indian finance.

I have endeavoured to show the evil of this, its injus-

tice to all concerned, and a way out of the difficulty

which seems to me to be a very easy one. Knowing

that the subject of this chapter is to the planter moreimportant than any other, I have not hesitated to express

my opinion to the best of my ability, in plain words,


where occasion seemed to require them. While not

wishing to rush into heroics, or to constitute myself the

press champion of the votaries of an industry which is

old enough to be, if not my father, certainly my very

elder brother, I hope I may say that I have endeavoured

in the interests of the industry to which I shall shortly

return, to show, as it seemed to me, the actual com-

plaint and the possible cure of this important question;

and I trust my diagnosis will prove to be correct, and

the treatment recommended be successful.

15


CHAPTER VIII.

THE SOCIAL PHASE OF TEA-DEINKING.

" Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast

;

Let fall the curtain, wheel the sofa round;

And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn

Throws up a steaming column, and the cups

That cheer, but not inebriate, wait on each,

So let us welcome peaceful evening in."

COWPEH.

Philanthropists of the present day are constantly

seeking to do good by a wholesale condemnation of

alcoholic drinks. It is not unlikely that their case

would be strengthened, and more good done, if they

were to show up the advantages of the various beneficial

drinks of nations. Without questioning the many evils

of intemperance, it must be confessed that platform

oratory on the subject has become almost hackneyed.

Beside which, it is hardly logical, in endeavouring to

benefit people, to give but one side—the evil—of the

drink question, without recommending substitutes and

being equally emphatic upon their merits—seeing that

THE SOCIAL PHASE OF TBA-DEINKING. 229

people must have something to drink. If temperance

advocates were to print and circulate as freely as they

do pamphlets denouncing strong drink, others hased on the

same conclusive lines, showing the chemical construction

of natural beverages and the advantages of their use,

they would aid their cause, and enable people to nourish

their bodies partly on scientific principles. Knowledge

is the surest preventive against animal indulgences. In-

teresting pamphlets on the nature and use of tea, placed

side by side with the injurious effects of alcohol, would

undoubtedly advance the use of the former.

During the last three centuries tea niay be said to

have been- first the representative, and now the national

drink of English people at home and abroad. Nu-

merous and wholesome as are many other social and

non-alcoholic beverages, tea is the most used, and

—

from an all-round point of view—the most beneficial.

It is a powerful agent in the domestic economy of

England, and enters largely into many of the public

phases of society. Ministers accept and resign charge of

congregations at gatherings of tea-drinkers ; foundation-

stones are laid, and theological anniversaries held, in

the tea-pot. Philanthropically-inclined people frequently

have the germ of their benevolence hatched at a tea-

meeting, and little nether vestments and moral pocket-

handkerchiefs result from the ascending aromatic incense,

and the descending comforting decoction, "Love's young

dream " often wakens to its dual fantasy as the drinker's

eyes wander over the side of the tea-cup to the bright

ones of somebody's sister near at hand. And at that


season of the year when nature, in England, has retired

within herself, and no longer gives forth her fruits, the

many Ladies Bountiful in towns and in villages sally

forth with comfort for the needy masses, and distribute

little parcels of tea and sugar.

Tea is used as a very general beverage, and is equally

a favourite one. Unlike many of the constituents of our

dietary system, it holds rank both in the homes of the

affluent and the indigent.

" That all classes of the community in this country

have derived much benefit from the persistent use of tea,

is placed beyond dispute. It has proved, and still

proves, a highly-prized boon to millions. The artist at

his easel, the author at his desk, the statesman fresh

from an exhaustive oration, the actor from the stage

after fulfilling an arduous role, the orator from the plat-

form, the preacher from the pulpit, the toihng mechanic,

-the wearied labourer, the poor governess, the tired

laundress, the humble cottage housewife, the votary of

pleasure, even, on escaping from the scene of revelry,

nay, the Queen on her throne, have, one and all, to

acknowledge and express gratitude for the grateful andinvigorating infusion." *

The Edinburgh Review, in noticing The Chemistry of

Common -Life, by Dr. Johnston, says :

—

" By her fireside, in her humble cottage, the lonely

widow sits : the kettle simmers over the ruddy embers,

and the blackened tea-pot on the hot bricks prepares her

* Food Papers.

THE SOCIAL PHASE OF TEA-DRINKING. 231

evening drink. Her crust of bread is scanty, yet as she

sips her warm beverage genial thoughts awaken in her

mind ; her cottage grows less dark and lonely, and

comfort seems to enliven the ill-furnished cabin. Whenour suffering and wounded soldiers were brought down

frozen and bleeding from the trenches before Sebasto-

pol to the port of Balaklava, the most welcome relief

to their sufferings was a pint of hot tea, which was

happily provided for them. Whence this great solace

to the weary and worn ? Why out of scanty earnings

does the ill-fed and lone one cheerfully pay for the

seemingly unnourishing weekly allowance of tea ? From

whatever open fountain does the daily comfort flow,

which the tea-cup gently brings to the careworn and the

weak ?"

In sickness, frequently when an invalid can fancy

nothing else, he can relish tea : in health, he likes it for

its own merits, and the social happiness surrounding it.

Indian planters will be able to speak of the place tea

holds, when thinking of the fever and ague the most of

them will have passed through. In our morning meal

it enlivens and starts us fairly for the day : we are

grateful for it on reaching home, tired and exhausted, in

the evening. In summer we appreciate it as we take it

on our lawns ; in winter, when Nature's face is white

with snow, it is especially welcome by our own fireside.

In palaces and in camps, on land and sea, whether we

are exhilarated with pleasure or saddened with trouble,

tea is the beverage we take to gladly—and beneficially.

We sometimes meet singular people, who dislike fish, or

232 THE TEA INDUSTBl IN INDIA.

vegetables, or sugar, or milk, but it is a rare thing

indeed to find anyone disliking tea. Out of England,

too, the fragrant beverage is a great institution. The

stockman on Australian sheep-runs lives upon tea,

corned beef, and damper ; and it has been given me as

a fact, by one of the fraternity, that frequently the last

two would scarcely be eaten without the former. Dismal

and lonely is the stockman's life, and devoid of mental

comforts ; and tea ranks highest in his small list of

creature ones. In wealthy Russian circles, from early

morning until late at night the brass " Samava " steams

with the fragrant odour of " Ochai." The Parisians have

fairly inaugurated the Enghsh custom of five o'clock tea.

Social gatherings among our own middle classes, and in

Nonconformist circles, would seem to be greatly wanting

in something were tea absent, even though every other

similar beverage were provided.

The various uses to which tea is put would pronounce

it to be a good-nature drink. People quarrel over wines

and spirits, but very seldom over tea. In small family

gatherings the social ice is quite thawed by the time tea

is over, and people are on good terms with themselves.

It is a pity that some of the suburban vestrymen near

London do not begin their meetings with a tea- drinking;

for then, perhaps, some of the ridiculous proceedings

that are recorded would not occur. People do not bet,

nor challenge each other, when drinking tea, nor even

indulge in strong language pour passer le temps.

" When in discourse of Nature's mystic powers

And noblest themes we pass the ^yell-spent hours,

THE SOCIAL PHASE OF TEA-DEINKING. 233

Whilst all around the Virtues—sacred band

—

And listening Graces, pleased attendants stand.

Thus our tea conversations we employ,

Where with delight, instruction we enjoy.

Quaffing without the waste of time or wealth,

The sovereign drink of pleasure and of health."

Beady.

" Tea is no vulgar conjurer, whose aim is to make

people stare. It insinuates itself into the mind, stimu-

lates the imagination, disarms the thoughts of their

coarseness, and brings up dancing to the surface a

thousand beautiful and enlivening ideas. It is a bond

of family love ; it is the ally of woman in the work of

refinement ; it throws down the conventional barrier

between the two sexes, turning the rude strength of the

one, and ennobling the graceful weakness of the other.

At the dinner-table there is something almost repulsive

in the idea that we are met for the purpose of satisfying

the animal necessities of our nature ; and our attempts

to gild over this weakness by a gorgeous display of

plate, crystal, and porcelain, only serves to superinduce

an air of stiffness and formality. At the tea-table, on

the other hand, although one may likewise eat, he does

so without the gross sensation of hunger, while he who

has no appetite at all, is spared the smell of smoking

viands. In drinking, his excitement is seen, not in the

flushed face, extravagant laugh, and confused ratiocina-

tion, but in an unconscious buoyancy of spirits, a rapid

but clear flow of ideas, and a kindliness, amounting to

a warmth of regard, for all around him."

In some Eastern countries tea-drinking is the opening


ceremony of hospitality, and the traveller may feel safe

for the time and fairly hopeful for his mission, when

he sits on his host's carpet, drinking tea.

According to the testimony of many travellers, it

would seem that the bulk of mankind require something

in the way of a stimulant. Wherever this is tea, civi-

lisation is in full progress ; for tea seems to lead to

refinement. Just as we almost naturally look for

elegancies at the tea-table, so we may, on a broader

ground, look for pleasant social courtesy, and refine-

ment of surroundings, among tea-drinking peoples.

Particularly would this seem to be borne out by the

Japanese. The poorest lads are educated, and the girls

are instructed in embroidery as well as in scholastic

branches. If we look at tea-drinking communities, we

shall find, almost without exception, that this rule of

refi.nement holds good. It is believed by the Chinese

that they were led to commence and perfect their

beautiful manufactures in drinking-vessels as necessary

adjuncts to the beverage they delighted in. Savage

nations, and non-tea-drinkers, are contented with horns,

leaves, calabashes, and rude metal vessels from which

to drink.* In the history of various national tumults,

we find no mention of the use of tea at the time being,

but we do find frequent record of the unbridled use of

alcoholic drinks. Tea-drinking seems quite inconsistent

with any disorder or coarseness. The studious, romantic,

and orderly nature of the Chinese has been accounted

Chambers' Journal,

THE SOCIAL PHASE OF TEA-DEIKKING. 236

for by themselves to their extensive use of tea; and

where we read of mutinies and rebellions among that

great people, we find that they have invariably origi-

nated amongst the poorest or wildest of them—people

who, cheap as tea is, were unable to purchase it, and

for their drink had to be contented with decoctions of

leaves other than those of the tea-plant, the use of

which was quite devoid of any beneficial result. In thus

writing, I remember a verbal picture drawn some time

since by a good, public man, of the difierence in the homes

of thousands of London artizans on Saturday night when

beer was drunk (and the men, too), and the Sunday

afternoon, when tea was used. The incident now occurs

to me for the first time, and confirms my belief of the

beneficial effects of tea. It may be asked " How is it

that in England, being a tea-drinking country, so much

crime, depravity, and brutality still exist ? " It is.

seldom, indeed, that these are found anywhere save in

cases of the excessive use of intoxicants ; or, if not so,

where a parallel exists with the Chinese circumstances

before mentioned, that the people get imitation tea,

which does them harm rather than good.

Tea takes its place in domestic economy as a great men-

tal stimulant, and as an adversary to alcohol. Dr. Lewis

says that in moderation it strengthens the stomach, is

good against indigestion, nausea, and diarrhoea, refreshes

the spirits in heaviness and sleeplessness, and counter-

acts the operation of inebriating liquors. That tea is

actively regarded as a rival of alcohol, in gratifying the

taste without injuring the health or maddening the brain,


is proved by the establishment of " Coffee Public-

houses," where tea is the principal liquor sold, and

which houses are unquestionably doing great good in

poor districts of London and its suburbs. Diverse as

are the opinions of medical men as to the merits of tea,

it is impossible not to believe that, where excess is not

indulged in, much benefit is obtainable from an infusion

of wholesome leaf. This belief was supported by the

Edinburgh Review many years ago :

—

" Most people are now aware that the chief necessity

for food arises from the gradual and constant wearing

away of the tissues and solid parts of the body. To

repair and restore the worn and wasted parts, food must

be constantly eaten and digested. And the faster the

waste, the larger the quantity of food which must daily

be consumed to make up for the loss which this waste

occasions. Now, the introduction of a certain quantity

of theine into the stomach lessens the amount of waste

which in similar circumstances would otherwise take

place. It makes the ordinary food consumed along

with it go farther, therefore, or more correctly, lessens

the quantity of food necessary to be eaten in a given

time. A similar effect, in a somewhat less degree, is

produced, by the volatile oil ; and, therefore, the infusion

of tea, in which both these ingredients of the leaf are

contained, affects the rapidity of the natural waste in

the tea-drinker in a very marked manner. As age

creeps on, the powers of digestion diminish with the

failing of the general vigour, till the stomach is no

longer able to digest and appropriate new food as fast

THE SOCIAL PHASE OF TEA-DRINKING. 237

as the body wears away. When such is the case, to

lessen the waste is to aid the digestive powers in main-

taining the strength and bulk of the weakening frame.

It is no longer wonderful, therefore, that tea should be

the favourite, on the one hand, with the poor whose

supplies of substantial food are scanty ; and, on the

other, with the aged and iniirm, especially of the feebler

sex, whose powers of digestion, and whose bodily

substance have together begun to fail."

We are able, therefore, to reasonably desire that the

use of tea may extend ; and that India, being foremost

in the production of pure leaf, may receive such public

support as will make the future of the industry very

bright and prosperous.

239

APPENDIX.

OEIGINAL HOME OF THE TEA-PLANT.

At a recent meeting of the Eoyal Botanic Society, a quantity

of tea-seed of three special varieties having been received direct

from China, and an interesting collection of grovying plants of

several varieties of both Indian and Chinese teas from the Society's

greenhouses being on the table. Professor Bentley took occasion

to say that although tea had been cultivated in China for perhaps

thousands of years, it is probable that in early times the plant was

introduced into China from India, it being really a native of Upper

Assam. All botanists now agree that many varieties of the tea-

plant are derived by long culture from one common origin ; andnot only so, but the endless varieties of teas known to commercedepend more on the age of the leaf and mode of manipulation for

their individual properties, than to the variety of plant from which

they are gathered. The Secretary said that although the tea-

plant had been so long under cultivation in China, it had com-

paratively only recently been introduced to England. It was of

easy culture, and being a true Camellia, the treatment under

which the Camellia Japonica was now so generally grown would

suit it, and probably, with a little attention from our leading

horticulturists, as interesting varieties in the flower might be

obtained as is now seen in the leaves of the tea, or in the flowers

of the Camellia.—;Home and Colonial Mail, February 18, 1881.

The foregoing was forwarded to the author by the kindness of

the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mail, when the Appendix

proof-sheets had been returned to the printer. This Botanical

testimony singularly bears out the author's theory as to the home of

the tea-plant.


LAND EULES OF THIETY YEAES' LEASE.

No rent.

3 annas per acre.

1 to 2 years

8 to 6 „

7 to 10 „

11 to 20 „

21 to 30 „ 1 rupee

CALCUTTA AGENTS OF TEA CONCEENS.

Agra Bank.Andrew, Hoyes & Co.

Asliburner & Co.

Balmer, Lawrie & Co.

Barry & Co.

Begg, Dunlop & Co.

Bennertz & Co.

Blecliynden, E.

Carritt & Co.

Colvin, Cowie & Co.

Cresswell & Co.

Derrick, — , Esq.

DoUet & Co.

Doyle & Co.

Duncan Brothers & Co.

EUiot & Co.

Fergusson & Co.

Finlay, Muir & Co.

Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Co.

Gisborne & Co.

Gladstone, Wyllie & Co.

Grindlay & Co.

Henderson & Co.

Hoare, Miller & Co.

Jardine, Skinner & Co.

Kernot, Dr. C. N.

Kerr, Tarruok & Co.

King, Hamilton & Co.

Land Mortgage Bank of India.

Lloyd & Co.

Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co.

Mcintosh & Co.

McKilhcan & Co.

McKnight, Anderson & Co.

McNeiU & Co.

Moran & Co.

McTavish & Co.

Owen, T.

Eeid, E. J.

Eobert & Charriol.

Eobinson, 'G. H.Schoene, Kilbui-n & Co.

Sen & Co.

Shaw, Finlayson & Co.Simpson & Co.

Smyth & Co.

Staunton & Co.

Steel & Co.

Struthers & Co.

Sykes & Co.

Tail & Co.

Thacker, Spink & Co.Thomas & Co.Watson & Co.Whitney Brothers & Co.Williamson, Magor & Co.Young & Co.

Yule, G.

The districts in which tea is grown in India at the present time

are :—Assam, Cachar, Sylhet, Darjeeling, Chittagong, Neilgherry

hills, Chota Nagpore, Kangra, Kumaon, Sikkhim, Nepaul, Dehra.

APPENDIX. 241

I take these two lists from the Map and Index recently com-

piled in India by Mr. F. Linde, whose large experience, extending

over many years, is a guarantee for the greatest accuracy obtain-

able. Areas are increasing almost daily, and agencies changing

frequently. With this allowance, at aU events for the purposes

mentioned in this book, the work may be taken as thoroughly

authentic. It is procurable in London from Messrs. D. J. Keymerand Co., 1, Whitefriars Street, Fleet Street, at the following

rates :

—

Unmounted in sheets

Mounted on linen in book-form .

,, ,, and rollers

Index containing district areas, names,

marks, agents, managers, and assistants

of estates in the different districts, alpha-

betically arranged, and with an interest-

ing Essay on Tea in India, 52 pages . 10 6

£2 2


OUTFIT.

It wiU seem somewhat strange, I doubt not, to begin this head

with " Teeth." Persons with questionably sound teeth should

have them examined before leaving England for the tea districts.

It is a rare thing to find Dentists in the tea looaHties, and the

general—^poultry and rice—diet is particularly troublesome for

unsound teeth. ChUls or feverish symptoms generally affect

broken or decayed teeth, and, as a rule, a man has to be his owndentist, or suffer inconvenience until he reaches Calcutta.

Arrangements should be made, before leaving home, for the

regular despatch of a good weekly newspaper—one containing

plenty of English news rather than a journal of politics, as Par-

liamentary information is always provided by the Indian press.

Monthly magazines or class journals which have been regularly

read at home, will be found doubly interesting in India, where

literature is somewhat scarce.

Any business of this kind, engaging passages, forwarding goods,

receiving packages from India for delivery to friends at home, or

any kind of agency business, can be arranged for with Messrs. D.

J. Keymer & Co., 1, Whitefriars Street, Fleet Street, London.

A good lamp is a sine qua non to comfort in the tea districts.

Hinck's Duplex is largely used in India, and Messrs. Osier & Co.

manufacture a very good reading-lamp. The former, or one

similar, is better for general purposes ; and a smaU bed-room lampwUl prove useful. All, however, must be specially made for India,

in being punkah-proof, else they will prove almost useless. Londonprices for lamps are lower than Indian ones. A large supply

of wicks, several spare chimnies, and one or two globes, should bealso taken, as breakages are certain sometimes to occur-, when,imless there are reserve articles, considerable inconvenience is

likely to be caused in obtaining substitutes from Calcutta.

Kerosine oil is procurable in Calcutta in half-maund (41 lbs.)

tins, in wooden cases ready for shipment.

White clothes and mosquito-curtains are cheaper, as a rule, in

India than in London. With a pattern provided, native tailors

wiU make a good number of jackets and trowsers in a few days.

Night-gowns are substituted in India by sleeping-suits—loose

APPENDIX. 243

drawers and a jacket. Indian outfitters in London understand

this item.

A breech-loading smooth-bore is the most useful all-round fire-

arm for the tea districts, although rifles are occasionally handy.

Eevolvers are very little used, as planters do not go about

their work armed with shooting-irons, and coolies are not partial

to being shot. If revolvers are wanted at all, it is in the

Texas fashion—real bad ; and if one is not to hand, it is never

wanted afterwards. It is awkward to get ammunition into India,

and should be sent only through a shipping agent who understands

the routine. All requisites for sport are obtainable in Calcutta.

Advice, being very cheap, leads me to caution the uninitiated

against trifling with fire-arms. It is a very inconvenient thing to

shoot a native by accident, and pardonable only by its sequel, to

shoot oneself. I unfortunately know of both these cases happening,

and another of one planter mortally wounding another. This is

not sport.

All mediums of occupying leisure profitably should be taken

out. Amateurs in photography will find their knowledge greatly

in demand. No valuable or prized books should be reserved for

use on the voyage. Shipboard literature is generally "pro bono

publico," and afterwards for the stewards. The climate of the tea

districts plays sad havoc with books. A good way to take them

out and keep them in India, is to have a tin-lined case fitted

with shelves and folding-doors, like a book-case, tin-lined, and

fastened with a good lock. The case should be bound with hoop

iron, and covered with sewn canvas.

Photographs suffer much in India. Albums may be well pro-

tected in flannel bags, which can be tastefully made of scarlet

flannel edged with blue silk. Or if my taste is too quiet, try

yellow flannel edged with green baize.

It is a great mistake to discard old cloth clothes before going

to India. They are very useful in the cold weather, on wet days,

and during fever bouts. Jackets are more useful in jungle-life

than coats.

The more flannel is worn, in shirts, trousers, jackets, and

sleeping-suits, the better. Silk and wool is also a very comfortable

material to wear. "Oxford" shirts (generally called Jute in


India) are much worn in the tea districts, but nothing can equal

flannel. All shirts should be made with turn-down collars

attached, of a size larger than those worn at home, and a breast

pocket or pockets (outside).

Pipes are articles of general use amongst tea-planters ; and as

the climate (or some other cause) conduces to their speedy decay,

spare ones should be taken.

I would recommend that all necessary articles be taken from

London, as the cost is less than in India. A dinner and

breakfast service for six or nine, ironmongery (enamelled), plated

ware, and cutlery of medium quality only (as natives believe in

sand for cleaning), glassware, filter, &c. &c.

Boots require to be mentioned particularly. They never wear

out in India, but break out, the work giving way through damp

and rain, and, consequently, are rendered useless. Good, strong,

nailed shooting-boots, with fixed tongues, and of the stoutest make

procurable, should be taken, and several pairs of them ; and a

large supply of laces, and Dubbin (or any similar good preparation)

wOl be of great service. A pair of light riding-boots should also

be included in the outfit, together with a pair of stout leggings,

fastening without springs.

Umbrellas are used for sun and rain. Bilk ones are of no

particular glory in the jungles ; strong alpaca or zanella answers

all purposes. London outfitters have very useful umbrellas for

the sun—white cloth lined with green, and a light cane handle

—which I would recommend.

A mattrass of some kind will be wanted. Coir ones are pro-

curable in Calcutta bazaars at a very low rate ; but cork ones are

far more serviceable, comfortable, and convenient in travelling.

A waterproof sheet to cover same will sometimes be invaluable.

The following are aU more or less requisite or useful for the

voyage or in India, but cannot be noticed in detail :

—

Blankets. Soiled linen bag. Shoe-horn.

Sheets. Scotch cap. Boot-brushes.

Pillow-cases. Courier bag. Despatch-box.

Towels. Corkscrew. Stationery.

Table-cloths and Flask. Compass,

napkins. Canvas shoes. Lantern.

APPENDIX. 245

Dusters. Overcoat. Clock.

Eug and strap. Eiding-breeches. Saddle, cloth, and

Easy chair. Dress suit. bridle.

Binoculars. Needles, threads. Clipping machine,

and buttons.

It is unnecessary to enumerate the articles ordinarily contained

in a dressing-case, or those in daily wear. A top-hat will not be

admired in the tea districts.

All tailors' and hosiers' measurements should be left at home,

so that after-supplies of clothing can be obtained.

HEALTH.

Under this head I have very little to say, being quite sure that

as many relatives and friends as can possibly squeeze in a word on

the subject will do so. All I need say is that excessive eating or

drinking in any country is bad, but particularly so in a hot one

—

therefore avoid excesses. Never bathe shortly after a meal ; take

as little medicine as possible, and that only when it is needed.

Allow Nature to manage itself as long as it can. No one with the

least tendency to Eheumatism ought to go to the tea-districts.

Avoid the general failing of new assistants of taking to drink—not

from the bottle, but from the tea-pot. Could Dickens have seen

how young planters generally absorb tea, it is possible that SamWeller's " mother-in-law," or the young person who drank nine

breakfast-cups of the beverage at one sitting, would never have comeinto notice. Excessive tea-drinking is very injurious. For complete

guidance to health, I strongly recommend every assistant to

obtain Surgeon-Major Moore's Indian domestic medicine book,

published under Government auspices, and obtainable from Messrs.

Thacker, Spink & Co., of Calcutta, at (I believe) Es. 7. 8a. Thenew assistant wiU act wisely in learning, as soon as possible, the

nature and treatment of cooly complaints.

It is useless to worry oneself about health. Where a decision

has been made to go to India, a negative acceptance has been

given to whatever health may follow ; so the wisest thing to do is

to be careful of oneself, and wait until sickness arrives, instead of

rushing out to meet it.

246 THE TEA INDUSTRT IN INDIA.

WEATHEE.

The London Evening News of November 7th, 1881, said:

—

" The Indian Tea supply is likely to be unusually short this

year, owing to the cold weather in Bengal and Assam. Not more

than 48,000,000 lbs. wiU be available for export." The weather

is a very important agent in the production of tea, although it

can hardly be said to be of primary importance in all respects.

Good weather and poor soil will not result in good tea—although,

for that matter, neither wUl good soil and bad weather. Old

gardens are very largely dependent upon climatic conditions for

their returns. Wonderful bursts of vigour are sometimes seen in

old bushes during good growing weather, and estimates are

exceeded under such happy conditions. But one thing is certain

—

that with the weather unfavourable, quantity and quaUty of out-

turn are alike affected. When, to some extent, quantity is

absolutely dependent upon the weather, the practice of estimating

for out-turn at the beginning of a season seems quite valueless.

DEATH-EATE.

When noticing the death-rate in Chapter VII., I said that in a

newspaper-cutting I somewhere had filed, the mortality in the

north of England, or in Scotland, was shown to be 30 per 1,000.

Against this, the tea-districts' death-rate of 50 per 1,000 did not

seem excessive. In the EcTio of 20th January 1882, a letter fromDr. Allinson says :—" Dr. S. Gibbons reports that High Street,

Whitechapel, is inhabited on the north by the Jews, and on the

south side by Irish and English. The death-rate among the Jewswas 20 per 1,000, amongst the Irish and EngHsh 43 per 1,000."

What can now be said of the Indian death-rate of 5 per cent., whenthe mortality percentage in the very heart of the metropolis of theworld is shown to be 4J per cent. ?

247

GLOSSAEY.

Ap hum ko aisa dik det'ta

roj ba roj

.

Ap ka gholdm

Badjat syces

Bagicha .

Batna

Bhai

Bhang .

Burra khannahs

Burra Sahib

Cha ka Durpdn natdk

Cha muluk

Cutcha

Dak bungalow

Dak gharry

Darogah .

Dastoor .

Dik .

Durwdn .

Gharry .

Ghat

Gunja

Gupping .

.

Hai .

Hal .

Hawa khan'na ko

Hikmat

Hookum .

You give worry to me like this day

by day.

Your slave.

Fractious or troublesome grooms.

Garden.

A weed.

Brother (or acquaintance).

Indian Hemp.Big dinners (dinner parties).

Big Sahib (or the superior).

Historical Mirror of Tea-planting.

Tea country.

Flimsy—of reed and plaster.

Eest-house for travellers.

Post or travelling carriage.

Superintendent.

Custom.

Worry.

Door-keeper.

Conveyance.

Landing-place.

An opiate.

Gossiping.

Yes (literally, Is).

Cachar land measurement, about

five acres.

To eat air.

Dexterity.

Command: order.

248 GL088ABY.

Hubble-bubble .

January, 1882.

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quest of the Punjab and Pegu.—The " Right of Lapse."—TheAnnexation of Oude.—Progress of Englishism. Book IL—TheSepoy Aemy : its Rise, Peogress, and Decline.—Early His-tory of the Native Army.—Deteriorating Influences.—TheSindh Mutinies.—The Punjaub Mutinies. Discipline of theBengal Army. Book III.—The Outbeeak of the Mutiny.—Lord Canning and his Council.—The Oude Administration andthe Persian War.—The Rising of the Storm.—The FirstMutiny.—Progress of Mutiny.—Excitement in Upper India.—Bursting of the Storm.

—

Appendix,

13, Waterloo Place,. Pai,l Mall. 17

Contents of Vol II. :

—

Book IV.

—

Thk Rising in theNorth-west. - The Delhi History.—The Outbreak at Meerut.

—The Seizure of Delhi.— Calcutta in May.—Last Days of

General Anson.—The March upon Delhi. Book V.

—

Pro-

gress of Rebellion in Upper India—Benares and Alla-

habad.—Cawnpore.—The March to Cawnpore.—Re-occupation

of Cawnpore. Book VI.

—

The Punjab and Delhi.—First

Conflicts in the Punjab.—Peshawur and Rawul Pinder.—Pro-

gress of Events in the Punjab.—Delhi.—First Weeks of the

Siege.—Progress of the Siege.—The Last Succours from the

Punjab.

Contents of Vol III. :

—

Book VII.

—

Bengal, Behab,AND THE North-west Provinces.—At the Seat of Govern-

ment.—The Insurrection in Behar.—The Siege of Arrah.

—

Behar and Bengal. Book VIII.

—

Mutiny and Rebellionin the North-west Provinces.—Agra in May.—Insurrec-

tion in the Districts.—Bearing of the Native Chiefs.—Agra in

June. July, August and September. Book IX.

—

LucknowAND Delhi.—Rebellion in Oude.—Revolt in the Districts.

—

Lucknow in June and July.—The. siege and Capture of Delhi.

(For continuation, see "History of the Indian Mutinfj^," by

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The History of India, as told by its own Histobians;

the Local Muhammadan Dynasties. Vol. I. Guzerat. ByJohn Dowson, M.E.A.S., late Professor of the StaffCollege. Forming a Sequel in two or more volumes toSir H. M. Elliott's Original work on the Muhammadanperiod of the History of India ; already edited, annotated,and amplified by the same Author. Published under thePatronage of H.M.'s Secretary of State for India


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Diplomatic Stxtdt of the Cbimban Wab. Translatedfrom the original as published by the Eussian ForeignOffice. 2 vols.

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The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens. Collected

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Feanz Lizst : Artist and Man. By L. Eamann. Trans-

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Shadows of the Past : the Autobiography of Gen. Eienyon.

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An English-Arabic Dictionary. By Dr. Steingass.

An Arabic-English Dictionary. By De. Steikgass.

An English-Persian Dictionary. Compiled from OriginalSources. By Aethitr N. Wollaston, M.E.A.S., Translatorof the ' Anwar-i-Suhaili."

An English-Hindi Dictionary. By Frederic Pincott, M.R.A.S.

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Alif Laila, ba-Zuban-i-Drdu (The Arabian Nights in Hindu-stani.) Roman Character. Edited by F. Pincott, M.R.A.S.


A SELECTION FEOM

MESSRS. ALLEN'S CATALOGUEOF BOOKS IN THE EASTERN LANGUAGES, &c.

HINDUSTANI, HINDI, &c.

I

Dr. Fories's Works are used as Class Books in the Colleges and Schoolsin Itidia.']

Forbes 's Hindustani-English Dictionary in the Persian Character,with the Hindi words in Nagari alsoj and an English HindustaniDictionary in the English Character ; both in one'volume. By DuN-CAN FoBBES, LL.D. Boyal 8vo. 42s.

Forbes 's Hindustani-English and English Hindustani Dictionary,

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Forbes's Smaller Dictionary, Hindustani and English, in theEnglish Character. 12s.

Forbes's Hindustani Grammar, with Specimens of Writing in thePersian and Ifagari Characters, Beading Lessons, and VocahuUiry.

8to. 10s. 6d.

Forbes's Hindustani Manual, containing a Compendious Gram-mar, Exercises for Translation, Dialogues, and Vocabulary, in the

Boman Character. New Edition, entirely revised. By J. T. Platts.ISmo. 3s. 6d.

Forbes's Bagh o Bahar, in the Persian Character, with a completeVocabulary. Boyal Svo. 12s. 6d.

Forbes's Bagh o Bahar in English, with Explanatory Notes,illustrative of Eastern Character. Svo. 8s.

Forbes's Bagh o Bahar, with Vocaby., English Character. 6s.

Forbes's Tota Kahani ; or, " Tale,s of a Parrot," in the Persian

Character, with a complete Vocabulary. Boyal 8vo. 8s.

Forbes's Baital Pachisi ; or, "Twenty-five Tales of a Demon,"in the Nagari Character, with a complete Vocabulary. Boyal Svo. 9s.

Forbes's Ikhwanu s Safa; or, "Brothers of Purity," in the

Persian Character. Boyal Svo. 12s. 6d.

\_For the higher standardfor military officers' examinations^]

Forbes's Oriental Penmanship ; a Guide to Writing Hindustaniin the Persian Character. 4to. Ss.

40 W. H, Allen & Co.,

Platts' Grammar of the Urdu or Hindustani-Language. 8vo. 13s.

Eastwick (Edward B.) The Bagh-o-Bahar—Hterally translated

into English, with copious explanatory notes. 8vo. 3 Os. 6d.

Small's (Rev. G.) Tota Kahani; or, " Tales of a Parrot." Trans-lated into English. 8to. 83.

Platts' J. T., Baital Pachisi ; translated into English. 8vo. 8s.

Platts' Ikhwanu S Safa; translated into English. 8vo. lOs. 6d.

Piatt's (J. T.), A Hindustani Dictionary. Part I. Royal8to. lOs. 6d.

Hindustani Selections, with a Vocabulary of the Words. ByJames E. Ballanttne. Second Edition. 1845. 5s.

Singhasan Battisi. Translated into Hindi from the Sanscrit.A New Edition. Bevised, Corrected, and Accompanied with CopiousNotes. By Sted Abdoolah. Eoyal 8to. 12s. 6d.

Robertson's Hindustani Vocabulary. 3s. 6d.

Akhlaki Hindi, translated into Urdu, with an Introduction andNotes. By Syed Abdoolah. Eoyal 8vo. 12s. 6d.

Sakuntala. Translated into Hindi from the Bengali recensionof the Sanskrit. Critically edited, with grammatical, idiomatical, andexegeticaJ notes, by Fbedeeio Pincott. 4to. 12s. 6d.

Principles of Persian Caligraphy. Illustrated by LithographicPlates of the Ta"lik Character, the one usually employed in writingthe Persian and the Hindustani. Prepared for the use of the ScottishNaval and Military Academy by James fi. Baxlantoje. SecondEdition. 4to. 3s. 6d.

SANSCRIT.

Haughton's Sanscrit and Bengali Dictionary, in the BengaliCharacter, with Index, serving as a reversed dictionary. 4to. 30s.

WilUams's English-Sanscrit Dictionary. 4to., cloth, i'3. 3s.Williams's Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 4to. £4 14s. 6d.Wilkin's (Sir Charles) Sanscrit Grammar. 4to. 15s.Williams's (Monier) Sanscrit Grammar. Bvo. 15s.Williams's (Monier) Sanscrit Manual ; to which is added, a

Vocabulary, by A. E. Q-ouGH. 18mo. 7s. 6d.Cough's (A. E.) Key to the Exercises in Williams's Sanscrit

Manual. 18mo. 4s.

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